An Undying Love
by BlackHeartedTigress
Summary: Jace and Clary's relationship after CoLS. How do they deal with Jace's 'Heavenly Fire' problem? Is Clary trained to become a proper Shadowhunter? Clary is as rash as she always is, and Jace is, well, Jace. Lots of romance. Lots of Jace and Clary fights. Some Malec (just because I cannot stand for my favourite couple to be apart). New chapter 16- Raziel's gift.
1. Oh, the irony

**Fan Fiction- The Mortal Instruments**

**Firstly, this is my first ever fanfiction story, but do not be afraid to be absolutely, brutally honest about what you think about my writing; if I make mistakes, Tell Me. Also, tell me whether you think I've got the characters' personalities right. Lastly, if I get even one review, I will be incredibly happy.**

Chapter 1: Oh, the irony...

Jace's POV

I couldn't help but smile as she glared at the seraph blade that lay glinting on the floor, joining the four others she'd previously thrown.

"It's all in the technique Clary. Not how much anger you throw it with." I commented, letting amusement saturate my voice.

"If you're not going to be helpful, then just leave. I'll get Izzy or Alec to train me."

I sighed exaggeratedly. "I don't really think knives are your style. Maybe a huge battleaxe, or a mace..." I glanced at her expression and decided if I wanted to live, I'd better be a little more serious about this. "Come here."

Clary shook her head and strode towards the door. I moved quickly to intercept her before she could leave. I leaned against the door and looked down at her. "What did I do?" I asked, feigning hurt.

Her usually affectionate eyes burned a venomous green. "Why do you _never_ take me being a Shadowhunter seriously? Whenever you're going demon-hunting, you always want me to stay behind. Is it because I'm too _impulsive? Too rash and thoughtless? Because I'm too MUNDANE?" _Her voice had risen through the octaves to a furious scream.

I winced. I remember how easily those callous, false words had risen to my lips. Apparently, even though I had apologised for them, they still stuck in her mind. "Clary-"

"Forget it. I don't want to hear it," She hissed icily before attempting to wrench the door open. I leant all my weight against it. "Please, Clary," I said softly, trying to sound sincere.

She looked away from me, her jaw clenched tightly.

"You know I didn't mean those things. The only reason I said it at all was to protect you. A shadowhunter's life is often a short and violent one. Is it so bad that I don't want you roaming the streets at night-time, searching for the monsters that are the basis of every nightmare? I love you, Clary. Which means I don't want you to get hurt."

"If you loved me you would let me make decisions for myself," she replied bitterly.

I closed my eyes wearily. This was one argument I was never going to win. "How about a compromise? If you can swear to always listen to what I say when we're hunting demons, especially if its to tell you wait behind, then I'll train you properly."

"I don't have a great track record with following orders," she said, looking up at me with rueful eyes.

I smiled tentatively at her, hoping her change in tone meant I'd been forgiven. She rolled her eyes at me,"How come we always seem to end up fighting over something every time we're together?"

"Oh, come on Clary. You know you only fight with me for one reason."

She raised her eyebrows, "Oh, and what would that be?"

I smirked lazily at her,"So we can kiss and make up." Before she could roll her eyes again, I touched my lips gently to her hers, enjoying the soft warmth that emanated from them. I felt her lips curve into a smile beneath mine, and so deepened the kiss, gently exploring her mouth with my own. Unfortunately, these days, these moments didn't last long. A spark of fire jumped from me to her and she gasped. I pulled away quickly.

"Are you hurt?" I asked anxiously.

"I'm fine, Jace. I think it was just the shock more than anything."

I folded her in my arms in a rather platonic embrace and thought dryly, _Only I would be damned by Heavenly Fire..._

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter... I will upload another by the week-end. Please review and tell me whether you liked it or not, BlackHeartedTigress x.**

_**P.S. If you liked this story and have read Clockwork Princess, check out my story, My One and Only Angel.**_


	2. Walking with you

**Fan Fiction- The Mortal Instruments**

**I would like to begin with saying a HUGE thank you to my reviewers, and KelseyMasun16, you would not believe how happy I was when I saw I'd got my first ever review; thank you, thank you THANK YOU!**

**Also, thank you to ****umuhh** for offering me advice; I will try to make sure my verbs and adverbs don't make each other redundant in the future! 

** And now that part is over, on to the second chapter!**

Chapter 2: Walking with you

Clary's POV

I sighed heavily as we eventually had to part. There was no escaping the inevitable.

"What time is it?" I asked with a yawn.

He glanced down at his watch. "Jocelyn is going to kill me."

"Why would she kill _you_? She doesn't know you're the one training me at the moment."

"She has a strange way of finding these things out. Especially when these _training _sessions go on to 11 o'clock at night." He said wryly.

"My mom _is _going to kill you," I echoed, surprised we'd been here that long.

He suddenly grinned. "Lose track of time Clary? You know what they say. 'Time flies when you're having fun'."

"Shut up," I replied half-heartedly. I may joke, but suspect Mom has started to genuinely loathe Jace. A relationship that just wasn't meant to be, she'd said. I wondered if that had been something said in the heat of the moment, or if she actually meant Jace and I were doomed. Although, considering by this point Jace had been possessed by Lilith and controlled by Sebastian- Jonathan Morgenstern- Verlac, I suppose I could see her point. If I really tried.

"Do you think our relationship is damned?"

He frowned at me, his tawny eyes narrowed in mild disbelief, "If I thought we were damned, I wouldn't be here."

"So we've just had exceptionally bad luck?" I replied sarcastically.

"You've got the brother from Hell, quite literally with the demon blood that flows through his veins, whose ambition in life is to reduce the world to ashes. And you think its _us _who have the problem?"

"True," I said with a weary laugh, closely followed by another yawn.

"Home time," he said, and grabbed his black jacket from a weapons hook.

"Who said you were coming?" I said sharply. I didn't need to be walked home like a helpless little girl.

He merely threw me an annoyed glance before opening the door and walking towards the elevator. I followed, feeling my own irritation rise again. "Well?" I asked impatiently as he pressed the button to take us to the exit of the Institute.

"Are you going to listen to me? Or are you going to scream at me again?"

I didn't dignify this with a response.

"Good. Now, firstly, what would Jocelyn say if you turned up at this time of night on your own? Secondly, there is the fact you are not a trained Shadowhunter yet. That means you're still vulnerable to attack. Thirdly-"

"Maybe if would stop fooling around when we're meant to be training, I would be by now," I retorted.

"Perhaps you shouldn't let yourself be distracted. Show a little self-control," His voice has taken on a faintly condescending ring. "You should know that self-control is an important quality in a Shadowhunter."

I turned away from him, hating how I blushed furiously at what he had said. We lapsed into stormy tense silence.

I stepped out of the Institute into the cold night. I shivered as the wind tore into me, burrowing beneath my clothes to bite and nip and claw relentlessly at my skin. I imagine it would compare to being attacked by a small, but vicious and bloodthirsty demon. Only this demon could not be slain by the Angel's blades. It was immortal, invincible and invisible. Not exactly a great enemy to have. I wrapped my coat tighter around myself to attempt to ward off the cold. I knew if Jace had been in a better mood, he would have wrapped his arm around me to offer me some of his own body heat. Now, he stared ahead, pointedly ignoring me.

At least the stars are out, I thought sadly. I gazed up at the tiny shimmering suns as we walked, reminded of the vastness of the universe and how insignificant our story was in the history of existence. It was a discouraging thought.

But it was also a wake up call. Our lives are terrifyingly finite, and it would be pointless to spend what precious small amount of time we had fighting. I reached out and wound my fingers between his. He squeezed them gently. He simultaneously apologised for his harsh words and forgave me for my overreaction in that one simple gesture.

"Do you think we'll fade into oblivion?" I broke the silence suddenly.

"We are but dust and shadows."

I shot him a quizzical look.

"Apparently one of the old Herondales used to say that a lot. Its Horace, _Odes. _I understand exactly what he was saying; we're not going to get any recognition for what we are and what we do. We live our lives in the shadows, pretending to be normal to the outside world, and then we die, become nothing but ashes. In 100 years no-one will remember the names Jace Herondale or Clary Fairchild."

"That's awfully depressing," I commented, disturbed.

"But true," he said quietly.

I blinked, disconcerted, as I recognised the apartment we were standing in front of. Mine. How did we arrive here so quickly?

I turned to face him. "Good night, Jace Herondale."

"Until tomorrow, Clarissa Fairchild," he responded with his characteristic heart-breaking half-smile. I reached up to tangle my hands in his lion-gold, messy hair while his arms circled my waist. He leant closer to me, until I could feel his light, short breaths against my lips. _Closer_, I pleaded with my eyes.

Abruptly, light swelled over us, causing us to break apart, as if it were a physical force. A red- haired avenging angel stood in the doorway to the apartment, almost incinerating us where we stood with the force of her glare.

"CLARISSA FRAY, WHERE THE _HELL _HAVE YOU BEEN?"

_Impeccable timing,_ I thought with an inner groan.

**Hope you enjoyed this slightly longer chapter! As with before, review and tell me the mistakes I've made, the improvements I could make and anything you liked. Did I get Clary right? Did you like the Will Herondale quote? BlackHeartedTigress x. **

**P.S. Any other characters you'd particularly like to see in the next chapter? I had previously planned on writing Jace and Clary POVs, but if there are any others you would like to see, please tell me. **


	3. Cruelty and Compassion

**Fan Fiction- The Mortal Instruments**

**Okay, this chapter is going to include some mild horror, which basically means Jace goes demon-hunting. Thanks once again to KelseyMasun16 for being incredibly encouraging and also for staying interested in the story; reviews like that keep me updating as much as possible! Your adjective comment made me laugh, I think its been something I always tend to do! **

Chapter 3- Cruelty and Compassion.

Jace's POV

I didn't wait around to face Jocelyn's wrath. Sometimes being able to melt effortlessly into the night had its advantages. A restlessness stirred within me, a beast that demanded to be sated. I wanted to fight. To feel the weight of a seraph blade in my hand as I drove it through a demon's skin, bathing in the satisfaction of ridding the world of one more horror, however temporarily it was for, ignoring the fact there would be ten more to replace it. To some people Shadowhunting was just another part to their life; an unpleasant job. For me, it _is_ my life. It is what I excel at, the only life I have ever known.

I felt a quick, grim smile flit over my face as I heard the rustle of scales around the corner . I drew the blade from my pocket and reverently whispered, "Samsiel." A dim glow now shone from the thin glass blade. I moved cautiously forward, each step light and measured. I could now hear its low, panting breath. It sounded like an especially large tiger in a heatwave. Its foul stench pervaded my nostrils, but thankfully I had experienced it enough times before to not start retching. I took one calming breath and stepped around the corner.

Its back was facing me, but from what I could see, it was a truly hideous monstrosity. Its scales were hanging in gruesome threads off its maggot infested, bloody body, looking like a snake shedding its skin. Spines jutted out at awkward angles from its body, looking not as if they'd grown naturally, but as if the beast had been stabbed multiple times without having the knives removed.

My lip curled in disgust. I'd seen some ugly demons, but this one had to be one of the worst. I frowned, curious as to what the demon was doing. It dipped its head down and shook its head powerfully from side to side, reminding me of a particularly vicious dog. I glanced down at its kill and froze. It was an unmistakably human corpse. Hatred rose inside me, but before I could avenge the person, an arrow whistled through the air, hitting the demon in one of its pus-filled eyes, sending it back to whatever dimension of Hell it came from.

"_Alec_," I said, rather frustrated, as now I would have to find something else to kill.

"Well, I didn't know if you were going to stand there looking at it until it turned around and attacked you," he answered defensively.

"Why are you even out here at this time?"

"Isn't that a little hypocritical?"

"No. I was walking Clary home. What's your excuse?"

"I don't have to answer that."

I stared at my parabatai over the the remaining carcass. His dark eyes were defiant.

"I don't see why you're spending so much time mourning something that was never meant to be." I said acidly.

Hurt flashed in his eyes. "You don't know that," he whispered.

"Yes, I do. He is an immortal, Alec. What did you really expect? He may have claimed to love you, but what warlocks value more than anything else is their immortality. He will never take you back. Hell, he left you for just considering taking his immortality away. He didn't care you'd never actually do it. Just the thought of it was too much for him." Distantly, I knew how cruel I was being to Alec, but right now I just wanted him to get over the warlock. Move on and stop being so weak.

But instead tears threatened to spill from Alec's eyes. He tried to wipe them away furiously, but his efforts were in vain; they were now cascading down his cheek in a relentless flow.

_He's a lost cause_, a malicious part of me said. But fortunately the better part to me spoke out loud. "Alec. You don't need him. You have me, your parabatai and your brother. You have Izzy, the most overprotective, loving sister there ever was. No matter what, you are _never _alone."

I regarded his surprised expression carefully. Evidently, he hadn't expected me to say something genuinely nice to him.

"Am I really that horrible?" I asked him with a smile.

He laughed softly, although his eyes were still wet and troubled. "You've been worse."

"Let's head back to the Institute." I said, taking a step forward, before nearly tripping over a large object. Oh, right. The dead body. Shrugging, I took a lighter out of my pocket.

"Jace, _no. _We can't just burn it-her-, we have to..."

"Do what? Leave her here to rot? Report it to the _Clave_?"

He sighed. He knew the Clave wouldn't care about one mundane. "Be quick about it. We don't want to attract attention."

"You worry too much," I muttered, before effectively cremating the body. "What do you say to dead mundanes? Rest in peace?"

"I think that's only if only if they're buried," Alec replied, frowning.

"Farewell and goodbye then," I said to the ashes. It wasn't long before a gust of wind blew them away.

"Wonder where she'll end up? Maybe she'll get to visit Disney World." I mused.

"_Jace," _he said reprovingly, but I'd seen the small smile that I'd got from him. Since when did I put so much effort into trying to make people happy?

I was about to repeat my request that we go home when my phone vibrated. It was a text from Izzy: _Get back here now._

_ On it. What's the emergency?_

_ I'll tell you when you get back. Its too difficult to explain in a text._

That didn't sound good. _If it is to do with either the words 'Sebastian', 'death' or your cooking, I refuse to return. _

_ You're an idiot sometimes Jace. Did you know that?_

_ I try my best for you Izzy. We'll be back in 10._

Alec raised his eyebrows at me.

"Crisis back at the Institute. They need our professional skills to sort it, as usual."

"Izzy's probably given everyone food poisoning," he remarked.

I grinned. "Great minds think alike, brother. Great minds think alike."

_**Did you like Chapter 3? Sorry Clary wasn't in it, but I thought it may be interesting to have a change. Did you like Alec and Izzy? Was Alec heartbroken enough? If you enjoyed this Chapter, please, please, please review; remember, the more reviews I get, the happier I'll be and the quicker I'll want to update. If you have any character suggestions, or any ideas for the next few chapters, please let me know! The next update will definitely be done by the end of the week, but hopefully earlier. Thanks for reading, BlackHeartedTigress xo.**_


	4. Erchomai

**Fan Fiction- The Mortal Instruments**

**Once again, a huge thank you to KelseyMasun16 (Now called ThatHippieChick?), who has not only taken the time to read each of my chapters, but also reviewed each one. Your reviews never fail to make me feel so happy! Anyone, if you have the time, please go to her story, Summer Vacation Gone Wild, and read it- you will definitely not regret it! She captures Jace's arrogance perfectly!**

Chapter 4- Erchomai: I am coming

Clary's POV

She stared at me for a few seconds after she'd slammed the door, her chest heaving up and down.

"That is _it, _Clary," she began in a cold, calm tone. "You will only ever be going to the Institute when Maryse is there to oversee your training. You are _absolutely _forbidden to see Jace until you've replaced the trust I once had in you. And you _will _be back here by 9.00 every night."

_She couldn't do this_, I thought wildly, "Mom, you are being completely unfair-"

"_Do you have even the slightest idea of how I felt when you ran away to find Jace?_ Do you realise how desperate I was? I thought I might never see you again. That is _his _fault. Every time you put yourself in danger, it is _for him_."

I was speechless. Never before had I heard my mom speak to me this way. Had I not discussed more or less the same thing with Jace earlier. I recalled his words, Y_ou've got the brother from Hell, quite literally with the demon blood that flows through his veins, whose ambition in life is to reduce the world to ashes. And you think its __us__ who have the problem? _Why couldn't my mom see things like Jace? I was about to open my mouth and start to argue his point when she said tiredly, "Go to bed, Clary. The Angel knows we have enough problems without you starting another one."

Feeling numb, I climbed the stairs to my room. I would have stayed and fought back, but in the end it would be pointless. Jocelyn would have her way this time, I was sure of it.

As I crawled into bed, I tried to remember the pleasanter moments from tonight. Jace's golden eyes, gentle and warm, the way they were only when he was with me. The soft, fiery touch of his lips on mine. The texture of his scarred, pianist's hand as it was intertwined with mine. All things I would not be experiencing for a long while. Just like that, any happy thoughts were crushed. My heart felt empty, as if it had had a premonition of the next few months. I could help the sobs that erupted from me. I had worked so hard to get him back, but now he was being stolen from me again.

It didn't take long for me to stop crying. I was an action person, not someone who wallowed in self-pity. Tomorrow, I was going to show everyone that I could not be ordered around like a child. I was practically an adult now, and could have my own opinion on what I did.

**12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789023456789**

_The haze around me lifted slowly, revealing my true location. I was in Poll na Mbrón, Ireland, the fateful plain where the first demonic shadowhunters had been spawned. The place where I'd stabbed Jace with the Archangel Michael's sword, _Quis et deus? _I shuddered at the awful memory; it was something I'd hoped in vain that I could repress. I remember searching frantically for Jace's heartbeat, almost missing it in my urgency. It had been the worst few moments of my life. So far anyway._

_I gazed around me, silently taking in the dark bleakness of the landscape. The wind tore through my hair, cold and scathing, whipping it against my face. Mountains surrounded me on all four sides, towering like predatory giants, waiting for me to make one wrong move. Everything around me was either a shade of green, grey or black. The ground squelched revoltingly beneath my feet, oozing mud, and I wrinkled my nose it disgust. It had obviously rained heavily here recently. I wondered what I was here for. Usually in dreams, I could not control where I went or what I did, but this one was different. I _knew_ I was dreaming. I knew my movements were dictated by my own conscious mind. _

_I stared at the plain again. Had there always been so many rocks? Frowning, I walked to the nearest one, sure it hadn't been there in real life. A face looked up at me. Simon's face. I dropped to my knees, "SIMON!" I screamed at him over and over, but there was no response. He was dead. Truly dead this time, not undead. Dawning horror almost crippled me as I realised the myriad of 'new rocks' were the bodies of people I loved._

_I ran to the next one, pointlessly praying my realisation had been wrong. Isabelle's black eyes looked up at me blankly. "Izzy," I whispered hoarsely, and reached to close her eyes. As I bent down, a foul coppery odour wafted towards me. The ground I was walking on was not soaked with rain. No, it was drowning in blood._

_"What do you think, sister? Isn't it beautiful?" His dark eyes glowed with twisted, unearthly satisfaction._

_"What have you done?" The words barely passed my lips, but he still heard them._

_"An eye for an eye, sweetheart," he smirked. "You took what I loved, and so I did the same for you."_

_Was Jace one of those bodies?, I thought. I couldn't ask this question out loud though, as I dreaded the answer too much._

_"You are utterly incapable of love," I spat. "You are _nothing _but a demon wearing a boy's face."_

_"Don't you want to know where your darling Jace is?" he asked loftily. _

_I closed my eyes, knowing defeat was written across my features._

_"BRING JONATHAN HERONDALE HERE!" he shouted triumphantly._

_Two dark shadowhunters appeared, dragging with them the face that I'd hoped now was among the dead. There were worse fates than death._

_His golden eyes glared defiantly at Sebastian. His chin was raised at an arrogant angle, and a smile of hatred and contempt hung off his lips. Even now, he was not afraid, I thought sadly._

_"Take his shirt off," Sebastian ordered._

_"If I'd known you were in love with me, Morgenstern-" Jace said mockingly._

_Sebastian turned to his slaves, "Do it NOW!"_

_"If were _that_ desperate to see me half-naked, I would have done it myself."_

_His shirt fell off, and two huge, white wings rose up. They were exactly as I'd sketched them; strong but with the softest and purest of feathers. There was a certain iridescence to them, as if they should be black like a raven's. They complimented him perfectly, they'd been designed and crafted for him, and only him._

_"You see now Clarissa," Sebastian said calmly, "Our angelic friend is even more seraphic than we thought."_

_I didn't know what to expect. Certainly not the words that next fell from his satanic mouth._

_"Rip the wings out."_

_ I screamed and tried to leap forward to stop them. Sebastian restrained me easily as I struggled, his hands iron surrounding me. _

_Jace's mask of confidence slipped and soon his face was contorted in agony. Horrific cries tore from his throat, telling me just how excruciating this process was. Jace never complained of pain._

_Sebastian let go of me, causing me to fall forward into the blood-drenched grass. Vivid crimson __stained my hands as I looked up. Sebastian was holding up the once beautiful wings and laughing._

_He chanted,"Erchomai, Erchomai, Erchomai." _

_**12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 1234567890123456789023456789**_

I gasped wildly. I was drenched in sweat that I had imagined as blood. Even the bed sheets mimicked my dream, lying strewn across the floor like a dead, mutilated body. But it had just been a dream, if not an exceptionally menacing one. Sighing, I staggered to my feet knowing I would be unable to sleep again tonight. A terrible headache pounded my head, so I headed downstairs to get tablets and a glass of water.

I paused as I heard voices from the closed living room.

"I don't know what we're going to do, Luke. She's just so stubborn and strong-willed. I don't think we should get married for a while. Not with the world bordering on implosion. Certainly not when I have to worry about Clary's every rebellion against me."

Guilt racked me. I didn't want them to cancel their wedding over me.

I couldn't decipher Luke's low voice through the door.

"I know. I wish she'd never been introduced to the Shadowhunter world. She'd never have met Jace then. Magnus could have just continued erasing her memory of anything vaguely supernatural."

Another rumbling of words, followed by mom's soft laugh.

"He hasn't been quite the same since he broke up Alec. In fact I heard he's become quite reclusive since their relationship ended."

This time Luke laughed. "Poor Magnus. Things must be bad if he's not dressed like a rainbow and hosting parties every other day."

I leaned my forehead against the door. I couldn't hurt mom or Luke again. From now on, I was going to have to at least try to be the exemplary daughter. I shook my head at the thought, and was suddenly and violently reminded of my headache. No more eavesdropping tonight.

I glanced at the clock once I was nestled back into the covers of my bed. 2.00am. Great. With a 6.00am start to my training, I was going to be dead by the afternoon. Training with Izzy or Alec, both of which would be utterly relentless, especially in front of their mother.

Just before I shut my eyes in a wistful plea for sleep, something flashed in the corner of my eyes.

With trepidation, and my heartbeat ringing like a siren in my ears, I turned my head by slow fractions to face the wall. Inscribed on it now, in golden angel's ichor, was a single word. A word that cause me to scream as if it were a portal to Hell.

_Erchomai._

I didn't stop screaming even as Jocelyn and Luke burst into the room, various weapons in their hands. I didn't stop screaming until I couldn't, until my voice croaked awfully. By then the golden word was branded into my mind. _Erchomai. Erchomai. Erchomai. Erchomai. Erchomaierchomaierchomaiecrchomai-_

_**Admittedly, this book was meant to be romance, not horror... I promise you the next chapter will involve some kind of romance, between who I don't even know yet. As ever, if you have any comments, questions, suggestions or improvements please leave a review. Should the next chapter be from Jace's POV, or from someone else's?**_

_**BlackHeartedTigress xo.**_


	5. What is Love?

**Fan Fiction- The Mortal Instruments**

Chapter 5- What is Love?

**Can I just say as I'm writing this I feel a little defeated. I don't know if people genuinely are enjoying my story or not. Please, even if it is only one word, leave a comment. If you don't like the story, then tell me why; right now I have no idea of how to improve it for you ='( **

Jace's POV

Alec was unusually quiet as we walked. Not his usual thoughtful silence, but more of a blank emptiness. I wondered vaguely as we entered the Institute just how long it would take him to recover. Not that Alec's heartbreak was really my main priority right now.

Isabelle was tapping her foot impatiently when she came into view. Her black hair was pulled into a tight ponytail. The electrum whip snaked out towards me, coiling loosely around my arm. "Finally. Did you stop off for a nap at some point?" She said sarcastically.

"No. We walked _extra _slow for the sole purpose of annoying you, dearest sister. It was Alec's idea," I replied with an eloquent shrug of my shoulders.

Alec rolled his eyes. He didn't really see the point of wordplay. "What's the crisis then?"

Isabelle grew sombre. "Sebastian was here."

The words were enough to make my pulse irregular, my breathing shallower. I could feel the hatred on my face. "I thought I told you I wasn't coming back if it had anything to do with him," I said, though I could hear the strain in my voice. "What was he here for?"

Izzy paused, deliberating. "Come to the library."

"The library? Izzy, what is going on?" Alec demanded.

She shook her head. "Library."

Obviously we weren't going to get any more information out of her now, so I grabbed Alec's arm and tugged him towards the library. Alec could stand there and argue with his sister all night. There were few greater forces than sibling rivalry.

The library was my third favourite room in the house. After the greenhouse and the weapon's room. Although I would be reluctant to admit it, something ingrained deep within me was filled with joy when I smelled the familiar scent of books crying out to be explored. Each book had a distinguished scent, and an equally unique story. It was particularly beautiful at night, when it looked smaller and less grand with a single lamp on, and I could relax in the old armchair beside.

I blinked as I saw who was illuminated by the lamplight now. None other than the High Warlock of Brooklyn.

"Surprised to see me, Nephilim?" he enquired coldly, the shadows making his face seem menacing somehow.

"Not especially," I lied. "Its just like attempting to look at the sun." I hadn't even looked at his clothing, but usually those words would be accurate.

Not tonight. He was wearing all black, even his hair hung limp with no glitter at all. He glared as I examined him.

"Cutting back, warlock?" I said smoothly. "You do know black is the colour of mundane mourning?"

"And the colour of hunting for Shadowhunters," he murmured dangerously. He no longer kept the presence of civility any more, and expressed his hostility towards me openly.

Belatedly, I glanced at Alec to see his reaction to his ex-boyfriend being here. His mouth was pressed into angry line. "What the hell is this about?"

"Several books from your library have been stolen. My Book of White has also been stolen, so I thought, considering the circumstances, it may benefit me to come to you."

"Which books were stolen?" Alec said, his voice cracking slightly.

"Demon books. Information on how to open rifts between worlds. On how to bend legions of demons to your will. And books about demonic weapons." Magnus' voice was pained.

"So he's going for world domination?" I said with a snort. "How original."

"Frankly, little Nephilim, I don't give a damn about how original his plan is. The facts are he is gaining power at a rapid rate. And he could potentially dominate far more than just Earth."

"There are other worlds out there?" Alec eyes were suddenly shining with fascination, despite the news.

The warlock glanced over at the Shadowhunter for the first time. I noticed his face was carefully dispassionate. "Undoubtedly. I'd say many are already facing wars against demons already, though. The few that have escaped so far will quickly be taken as well."

The room was silent as we absorbed the grim news.

"Well, I guess this is the official reunion of Team Good." I said eventually. "Except we're missing two people..."

**12345678901234567890123456890123456789012345678901 23456789012345678901234567890**

"Good to see you, vampire." It was hard to resist winding him up sometimes.

"I would say the same, but then I wouldn't mean it," he replied.

Seeing he wasn't in the mood for our usual battle of words, I relented and relayed tonight's events to him.

"Its one thing after another now," Simon sighed. I agreed with him wholeheartedly. It would be nice to have a moment of calm, a time to relax. But a turbulent lifestyle went hand-in-hand with Shadowhunting.

"I suppose we'll have to convene somewhere else, since you can't enter the Institute."

He nodded irritability. I smiled. He loathed being reminded he was a vampire.

"Call Clary. She kill both of us if she thinks she's missing out on the action."

He slipped his phone out of his pocket.

"Hey Jocelyn. Is Clary there?...I know, but its kind of important... Ummm..." He looked over at me. "Maybe."

This time I could hear Jocelyn's response. "ABSOLUTELY NOT. YOU ARE NOT DRAGGING MY DAUGHTER OUT AT THIS TIME TO GET HERSELF KILLED!"

Simon winced and clutched his right ear. I guess having super-hearing didn't always work to his advantage.

"Mrs. Fray... No, wait! We only need to talk about about something! Jocelyn!"

"She hung up." He stated the obvious.

I swore. Clary was going to take this out on me later today if we didn't bring her. "Call her mobile, you idiot."

He shot me a furious look, but turned his attention back to the phone. "Clary," He said with evident relief.

"Then sneak out. It isn't as if you've never done _that _before... They'll never know. Please, Clary... Okay, Bye."

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"She's coming now."

"Good work, vampire boy," I praised him sardonically.

"You know I just live for every compliment you give me."

"I know," I said, sighing dramatically. "Its just getting harder and harder though. I'm running out of nice things to say about you. Insults are just so much easier."

Simon snorted. "I have no idea how Clary sticks you."

"Who wouldn't want a boyfriend who spends half his time thinking of creative ways to slaughter demons and the other half of the time wondering if Stephen Herondale is his real father? I've already had three others already, so what's another one to add to the list?"

"I like you a lot better when you're insulting _yourself_."

"So does everyone else apparently," I answered truthfully. It was difficult to show the more vulnerable side to myself, the side that had worries and insecurities. The side that was a little broken sometimes, cracked with the hurt of loss. In a year I'd lost the only father I'd ever known, and a little brother who had only wanted to be listened to. I missed him so much; the way he used to rush up to me as if I was his favourite person in the whole world, his glasses always a little askew. Of all the people who'd died, his death had been the most unfair. He had been a child, not even involved in the Shadowhunter world yet, and he'd been killed. By Sebastian. That is what now drove me on. Max's death had to be avenged.

12345678901234567890123456890123451234567890`12345678901234567890123456789034567

I strode along the corridor, hoping everyone had stayed in the library. I'd left Simon to wait for Clary. I froze as I heard voices drift out from the kitchen.

"Well? Is it true?" I recognised Alec's voice, although it didn't have its usual calmness.

"Even if it was true, Alexander, it wouldn't really matter would it? Whatever there was between us is over."

By the Angel, how I regretted saying those words about warlocks and immortality now. Of course Alec would demand the truth. Oh, to be blessed with foresight must be a magnificent thing.

"Why does what I did bother you so much then? I'm not asking you to take me back, I'm asking you for forgiveness."

There was a moment of tense silence.

"It bothers me because I am afraid. Afraid of death. As you know, my father was a demon. _I'm part-demon. _Do you really think there is anywhere else but Hell for me in the end? Do you really want to spend your life with someone who's completely and utterly damned?"

"You're not damned," Alec said with quiet conviction. "Your father is not you. You have a choice whether you do what is right or not."

"And what is the right thing to do?" His voice sounded ancient in that moment.

I glanced down at my watch. I didn't have time for this. I walked into the kitchen. "I hate to interrupt, but you do know the point of this was to figure out a way to stop Sebastian's evil plans?"

Alec's cheeks burned red as he stepped away from Magnus. Magnus' face was impassive.

"We can go to my apartment. Also, you may want to leave Maryse a note. She's been under enough stress recently, and doesn't need to think you've all been kidnapped."

I nodded. "Izzy!" I yelled towards the corridor.

"Are we ready to go?" She enquired, stepping into doorway deftly. She was dressed in traditional Shadowhunter clothing; black from head to toe. She had several seraph blades strapped to her belt, and her whip was wrapped around her wrist.

"Should we put Marks on?" Alec asked, grabbing his bow from the counter.

I glanced between him and Isabelle. Would it really be worth it? But then I thought back to all the times we'd been taken by surprise and ended up fighting for our lives. "I guess we'd better," I said reluctantly, and took out my stele. I quickly inscribed the Marks for swiftness, a light tread and strength onto my arm. They'd be a new collection of scars by the end of tonight. Not that scars bothered me; for me they symbolised courage, and were a reminder of each time I came out of a fight alive.

By the time I'd finished, the others were standing waiting impatiently. If there was one thing Lightwoods were good at, it was applying Marks.

12345678901234567891234567890123456789012345678901 234567890`12345678901234567890

"Clary," I murmured, drawing her close. She smelled faintly of oranges.

"Late night shower?" I asked with a smile. It was easy to be happy with Clary.

"Yeah. I woke up drenched it sweat from a nightmare,"

I frowned. It had to have been some nightmare to cause that."What happened in your nightmare?"

"I can't remember," She said quickly. I pulled back to look at her face. It was obvious she was lying.

"You can tell me, Clary. You don't have to hide from me."

"I'm not," she replied stubbornly.

There was no point arguing about it. Clary was the most obstinate person I knew.

"You okay now?" I said gently.

She merely shivered and hugged me closer. I understood. She didn't want to talk about it, she just wanted to be comforted. I put my finger beneath her chin, coaxing her to look at me. I gazed into her gorgeous green eyes. They reminded me of a summer in Idris.

It had been a time when Valentine had felt kinder, the reason I was never able to hate him. After a day of weapon's training, we'd laid back in the evening sun, with the golden-orange rays filtering through a screen of leaves, illuminating their every vein. The sunlight was dappled across us, and for a moment there had been perfect peace. No rage in Valentine's black eyes, just contentment.

I was drawn back to the present when Clary traced my face with her finger tips. "You got that distant look again," she said playfully.

"I was looking into your eyes, and I saw Idris."

"You miss it," she stated quietly.

I smiled wistfully,"Its not my home any more. My home is with the Lightwoods and you."

Her eyes softened. She loved when I was honest. She reached up and twined her arms around my neck. "Kiss me, Jace."

"As if I could refuse you," I whispered, before kissing the corner of her mouth. I then moved to trace her features with my mouth, as she had done earlier with her hands. She shivered again, but I could feel the delight in the way she clung to me with everything she had. I gasped unwillingly as her mouth moved to mine, opening slightly. I felt her tongue stroke my lip-

A throat cleared behind us. "I absolutely _hate_ to interrupt, but you do_ know_ the point of this was to figure out a way to stop _Sebastian's evil plans_?" Magnus' voice had a dry amusement in it.

"Ah. I must have had a brief... lapse in memory," I said, mock-remorseful, as Clary virtually jumped away from me, blushing the colour of her bright red hair.

**Okay, I know this chapter didn't go many places, but I wanted to show the interactions between the characters rather than the action. Reviews= love, and recently I've felt very unloved. If you've spent the time to read this, then what's a few more seconds to leave a review? **

**BlackHeartedTigress x.**


	6. Golden Affliction-Fortunate Grey Comet

**Fan Fiction- The Mortal Instruments**

**Begging for reviews works! Thank you to each of the people who have taken the time to review my story- you are the driving force for my motivation! I feel very loved now, so please don't let me down for this chapter...**

Chapter 6- A Golden Affliction/ Fortune comes with a Grey Comet

Clary's POV

A rush of déjà vu went through me. Had it only been a few weeks since we'd all been gathered in Magnus' apartment, deciding how to get Jace back? I looked around at each of the faces in the room. Izzy's was contemplative, Alec's slightly despairing, Magnus' frustrated, Jace's impatient, Simon's defeated. Needless to say, there wasn't a great atmosphere in the room. And the room itself reflected this; pictures of raging seas, colossal bolts of lightning and erupting volcanoes adorned the walls. Everything else in the room was a shade of black, white or grey. Furniture was arranged haphazardly, various items sprawled across it.

.I could tell this was acerbating Jace's mood, as he hated any form of mess. He had quite severe OCD; everything had to be in order, nothing could be lying loose and there could be no uneven edges. I'm glad he hadn't seen my room, as I knew he would be absolutely horrified. I was the opposite of him in that respect. I liked a little craziness, I thought it had more of an artistic appeal.

"There's definitely no way to track him?" Izzy ascertained.

"Not while he's floating between dimensions again."

"Then there is _nothing _we can do until he reappears," Jace said dully.

"Exactly. You're glowing again Shadowhunter," Magnus remarked.

I scrutinised my boyfriend; there it was again, that ethereal, angelic glow that Raziel had had when Valentine summoned him. That Ithuriel had had at the manor, even if it was faint from Valentine's abuse. A glow that no mortal was supposed to have.

"Its getting worse," Izzy observed.

She was right; when I held out his arm, it wasn't just the bones and veins in his fingers I could see. No, now I could see them right up to his shoulder.

"Hmm... I don't think that's supposed to happen," Jace said, and I swore his voice sounded amused.

"That is so freaky," Simon said with a laugh. Probably because he wanted Jace to experience being uncomfortable with his appearance, for once. Unfortunately for him, Jace was fascinated rather than repulsed.

"Do you think its going to get to the point when I'm completely translucent?"

"Haven't the Silent Brothers said any more about it?" Alec asked, concern for his friend evident in his voice.

"Brother Zachariah's been researching it, but he hasn't found anything yet. Which probably means this is the first time this has ever happened, in the history of the world. Therefore that also equals no cure, unless we can contact Michael himself and ask him if he's ever stabbed a mortal with his sword before. A mortal that actually survived the stabbing too."

"Perhaps there is a way to drain the Heavenly Fire from you," Magnus mused.

"I'm not open to being experimented on," Jace replied lightly but firmly.

"Are there any documents that the Silent Brothers don't have access to?"

Magnus looked at me thoughtfully. "There may be some Downworld books they wouldn't know of. Its unlikely _Heavenly _fire would be mentioned in them though."

"Faeries supposedly originate from heaven, don't they? And warlocks have numerous amount of spells," Alec interrupted, sudden excitement flaring in his eyes.

"If I haven't heard of a spell to remove Heavenly fire, chances are there isn't one. And do you honestly think the Queen of the Seelie Court is going to give information for free?"

Alec slumped, looking discouraged. Isabelle didn't. "You didn't get the chance to read the enire Book of White though did you?"

Magnus frowned, confused, "Isabelle, _Johnathan Morgenstern _has the Book of White now. Which ironically takes us in a full circle."

"There must have been a warlock who had it before Valentine though."

A dubious look passed his face now. "I'll send a message to the other warlocks I know. Ask them to keep an eye out for Morgenstern too."

"As for the Queen, I think she'll help us if we do a favour for her."

"Izzy, do you not seriously remember any of the other times we asked the Queen for help?" I said incredulously. Although faeries can't lie, she had tricked us every single time. Making Jace kiss me when we thought we were brother and sister, telling us to bring us faery rings and then conspiring against us with Sebastian, knowing we'd steal them. I strongly believed she was one of our enemies.

"I know," she said, biting her lip, "But she might help us for the right price. Faery alliances are constantly changing."

"Who's volunteering to find out the price?" Jace asked cheerfully.

"Do faeries like vampires?" Simon chipped in.

"Not particularly. No one really likes vampires. Not even vampires like vampires."

I shook my head. Jace took every opportunity to wind Simon up, regardless of how dire the situation was.

"The Seelie Queen and I aren't on the best of terms," Magnus said. I wondered what was behind that story.

"I guess its me, Izzy and Alec then. Just like old times."

"What about me?" I demanded.

Jace looked at me carefully. I could tell he was thinking of how he could phrase his words so he wouldn't offend me. "Clary, you've seen first hand how deceptive faeries are. Izzy and Alec have more experience with them; they'll see through most tricks. They also are less likely to get angry and say something that'll annoy the Queen."

Was my temper really that bad? Grudgingly, I said,"Okay then. But you have to promise you won't leave me behind next time."

"I promise."

"Swear on the Angel."

Jace pretended he hadn't heard me, and headed towards the door with the Lightwoods.

"I guess that makes me the babysitter," Magnus said.

"I am not a baby," Simon and I exclaimed in almost perfect unison.

"Child-minder then. Even if one of you is a child of the Night, and the other a child of the Angel."

12345678901234567899012345678902345678903456789034 567893456789034567891234567890

When Jace, Alec and Izzy returned, they looked absolutely exhausted. Not to mention soaked through with water and covered in scratches and bites.

Magnus raised his eyebrows. "Have fun?"

Jace and Izzy collapsed onto a sofa with a groan, Alec stood, looking uncomfortable, as he shivered violently. Jace slung and arm over his eyes and began, "She said she'd think about it. Then she left. Leaving us to be attacked by her Court."

"How awful," Magnus murmured, sounding unsympathetic. "I hope you didn't kill any of them. That certainly wouldn't please her."

"We were outnumbered by at least 20 to 1. We ran," Alec said flatly, with a tremor in his voice from his shivers.

"The Nephilim decided to run away? I thought you would have at least called it a 'tactical retreat'." He glanced over at the still shaking Alec. "And for goodness sake Alexander, go take a shower before you get hypothermia or pneumonia."

Relief crossed his face and he disappeared rapidly.

"So, what have you three been doing while we've been out risking our precious lives?" Jace enquired.

"_I _searched through my other spell books for anything even remotely related to your condition. Clary and Simon... argued over which Star Wars movie was the best. It was an extremely boring conversation, something about 'Skywalker', 'Darth Vader and Maul', 'the Sith' and 'Jar Jar Binks'."

Isabelle sat up. "Star Wars is _not _boring. There are _lightsabers _in it! I bet you don't have a lightsaber."

"That's my girl," Simon said with a grin. Isabelle had unexpectedly learnt the entire plot when Simon had told it to her in her sleep. I studied them, curious as to whether they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend yet. They had more in common that anyone had originally thought, but the last time I'd spoken to Izzy about it she seemed to be waiting for him to make the first move. I also suspected she was a little jealous that I was so close to him. I'd once been jealous of Izzy when Simon had been mundane and infatuated with her, but now that I knew Izzy better, I was happy for them to go out; I even encouraged it, although to no avail yet.

I jumped as a tiny grey comet shot past me. It followed Alec's footsteps, and soon I could hear the scraping of minute claws on a door.

"Traitorous cat." Magnus mumbled before going to retrieve the aforementioned feline. He returned promptly, with a yowling ball of fur in his arms. "All right Chairman! I'll feed you now!"

The warlock rolled his eyes dramatically and strode towards the kitchen. I think I knew now why Chairman Miaow ran away every few weeks. His owner wasn't overly attentive.

Alec emerged from the bathroom wearing a red hoodie and jeans which were evidently borrowed; they were far too long for him. "Was that Chairman Miaow I heard at the door?" he said, scrubbing at his black hair with a towel.

"Yes. Magnus has just gone to feed him." Jace replied wearily, as if this comment took almost too much effort to make.

"Feed him?" Alec looked comical, with his black hair sticking up in all directions and an expression of pure horror on his face. An expletive passed his lips, and he sprinted to the kitchen.

12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345901234567891234

**Alec's POV**- just thought I'd try this out for a change. Also didn't know what else Clary had to say or think at this moment. Tell me if this is good or if I should _never_ attempt this again!

I distinctly remember the time, when Magnus and I had still been together, that he'd tried to feed his cat. Of course, he must have fed Chairman Miaow before I came into his life, but on this occasion he'd decided to experiment.

_"Good morning, Alec darling," He greets me brightly. Spread across the counter were multiple jars of... foul looking substances. Looking quizzically up at him was the tiny grey cat. _

_ "What are you doing?" I ask, slightly perturbed._

_ "I'm making the Chairman his breakfast!"_

_ "So where's the _cat _food?" Surely he wasn't planning-_

_ "Alexander. Variety is the spice of life. You wouldn't want him to be deprived, would you?" He shakes his head, as if in disbelief at my neglectful, cruel attitude._

_ I seized his hands. "Magnus, do you want your cat to live another day?" _

_ His brow furrowed. "Of course I do. I love him very dearly."_

_ "Then let me feed him. You go... deal with your clients or something."_

_ He rolls his eyes. "You tell me to make more of an effort to look after my cat, and then when I do, you tell me I'm not doing it right." His tone is hurt, but there is a bright glimmer of mischief in his green-golden cat's eyes. I reach up to kiss him, meaning for it to be brief, but soon I completely forget about cats, food and experimentation..._

When I burst into the kitchen he was holding a scissors in one hand and a Whiskas cat food sachet in the other.

"Thank the Angel, I said in relief.

He raised his eyebrows slightly but didn't comment, rather deciding to continue cutting open the packet.

"You're not trying experiment on him again?" I said by way of explanation of my abrupt arrival.

"I wasn't experimenting on him, I was trying to culture him. Cats simply don't have any appreciation for fine cuisine."

"Or poison," I muttered.

He ignored me again.

"We never got to finish our conversation from earlier," I said quietly.

"There's nothing more to discuss," he said, with an air of finality, punctuating it by slamming the scissors down on the counter.

"Please," I whispered.

A harsh laugh filled the room. "Ironic, isn't it? I tell you all to leave me alone, then I end up coming to you for help."

I sighed and turned to leave. Apparently, he wasn't feeling overly sympathetic tonight. I pressed down the handle and opened the door. Or tried to at least. It was stuck. I pulled at it in vain for a few seconds, before I noticed the faint bluish glow to it. I whirled to face a warlock leaning against the counter lazily with a smirk on his face.

"What the hell?" I demanded for the second time tonight.

"I changed my mind," he said, tilting his head to the side slightly, looking more inhuman than ever. The pupil's of his eyes were thin slits, watching me how a predator watches its prey.

I stared at him warily. This mood swing was unprecedented. It didn't help I had no idea of what he was thinking, and right now his eyes were more akin to a snake's than a cat's. Another thing I despised and feared in equal measure; scaly, cold-blooded reptiles. It probably explained the reason I was so on edge now.

"Are you going to forgive me?" I asked, uncertainty ringing clear in my voice.

His face was sombre now."It wasn't your mistake, Alec, it was mine. I was selfish and... I didn't consider what the future held for us, because that's what I do; I enjoy the moment without thinking of the consequences." He gazed into the distant past, his eyes unfocused. "I changed my mind. No matter what happens between us now, I don't want to be immortal any more. The losses outweigh any benefits."

"Are you mortal right now?" I said gently, not wanting to break him out of his transfixed state.

"No. But the spell is in the Book of White. Which the Nephilim have informed me they're going to help return to me in due course."

I smiled the smallest of smiles. "Does this mean...?"

"Please?" He quoted softly, his eyes now riveted on me.

Hope surged through me, but I hesitated. Was he serious? Or was he mocking me?

A second later I was engulfed in a warm embrace. "Alec," he murmured, and there was no doubting the love in his voice.

I felt warm tears form once more in my eyes, partially from all the emotion that I'd trapped inside me, frantic to stop any from escaping in front of my family. Mostly because of the overwhelming sensation that I had my one true love in my arms again...

**Just couldn't let my favourite couple stay separated... **

**Please review and tell me what you think of Alec and Magnus' scene! **

**BlackHeartedTigress xo.**


	7. Predator

**Fan Fiction- The Mortal Instruments**

**I want to apologise to the people asking for longer chapters. At the minute this is not possible, because its either shorter chapters and relatively quick updates, or long chapters with a long time to update. Once exam season is over, in the summer, I promise I will try to make my chapters longer as I'll have lots of time on my hands, but for now this will have to do. Remember, Quality ****not**** Quantity!**

Chapter 7- Predator

Jace's POV (from the Seelie Court)

It did not give me great pleasure to have to look upon the imperious face of the Seelie Queen again. There was always a vicious, malignant joy burning in her razor sharp grey eyes. She was beautiful, but you admired her as you may a tiger as it gives its killing bite with a smooth, graceful action. Or a powerful shark as it surges from the depths to strike its helpless, unknowing prey. She was deadly.

"Johnathan Herondale," she began in her high, sweet voice. Like the cruel edges of glass shards as they strike off one another.

"Is my Lady perhaps a little confused? It was Morgenstern the last time you spoke to me." I couldn't help but feel hatred for the faerie woman. She'd been needlessly cruel, just for entertainment's sake.

"It is what you thought as well, young Nephilim. You would not have believed me if I had told you of your true parentage. Besides, you were brought up a Morgenstern, were you not?"

"And you were brought up as a lying, manipulative b-"

"_Jace_, have you had experienced a lot of amnesia recently? Have you forgotten why we're here?" Isabelle's hissed questions stopped me instantly. I'd screwed this up badly.

I took a hesitant breath. "My Lady, we have come to ask for your assistance, in return for a favour of your choice."

"You dare to insult me, and then ask me for a favour?" She said, and her Court advanced a little.

"I was not thinking. My fellow Shadowhunters and I have gone through a time of great distress, and it has left us unsettled. May I ask for your pardon?" I spoke slowly and smiled at her. I knew she despised weakness.

She considered for a moment. "I suppose just this once, Shadowhunter, but do not make a habit of it. I am not a forgiving person. Now come and take a seat, while we discuss this assistance you are in need of."

I crossed to where she was lying languidly, and sat on the ornate seat beside her, retaining the air of confidence.

"Are you not willing to join us, Alexander and Isabelle Lightwood?" Her eyes glinted, like a hawk zeroing in on a unknowing victim.

Isabelle held her head high, and Alec was expressionless, but his hands were clenched into fists. Izzy had told me his last experience with the Faerie Queen had petrified him, when she'd weaved an ageing glamour around him. I could imagine how unpleasant it was to be reminded of how mortal you are, especially as at the time he was still with Magnus.

"Would you like a drink, Shadowhunters?" she said with a dangerous smile. "Or perhaps you would like to sample some of our faerie delicacies?"

Again, she was mocking us, reminding Izzy and I of when she'd tricked Clary into tasting a faerie drink, meaning she was trapped eternally. The only way she could be released was with the kiss she most desired, at a time when we thought we were related. It was a reminder of how twisted she was. A beautiful exterior with a rotten inside.

"Perhaps later, my Lady," I said carefully. "We wanted to ask you to help us find Sebastian. And to look for any faerie history regarding Heavenly Fire."

"The real Johnathan Morgenstern? That would mean we would become an enemy to him. Your second request is interesting though."

I stared for a second. Had she allied herself with Sebastian?

"Morgenstern doesn't have to know you aided us," Isabelle murmured. Last time she'd been outspoken and defiant towards the Queen, but she seemed to be trying a different technique this time. One that wouldn't earn scathing glares of contempt.

"Are you asking me to deceive him? To risk facing his wrath at our betrayal?"

"Faeries are a secretive race," Isabelle purred, "What's one more half-truth? One more enigma for him to puzzle over?"

The Queen regarded us thoughtfully. "Why so silent, young Alexander? Has heart-break rendered you mute?"

Alec flinched. "No, My Lady. My siblings have said all there is to say."

"We have not discussed the matter of Heavenly Fire yet. Or what you will provide for me in return for me in return for my service."

"Surely your sources have informed you of the Fire?" There was a challenging edge to Alec's voice now. His hatred for her was pulsing angrily from him.

The Queen's eyes narrowed. She enjoyed her charade of omnipresence. "Watch yourself, Alexander. The fury of the Court is renowned to be swift and severe."

I took over, not wanting to risk being attacked. There was a hungry, feral look to the faeries surrounding her, and they'd moved even closer while we'd been speaking. Huge blacks eyes roamed shamelessly over our flesh, while reptilian tongues flicked over needle-like teeth. How I wished these were the sweet, minuscule Fae, wearing little pink dresses and living on sugar and honey, of mundane myths. "Alec merely wants to keep you from wasting your undoubtedly valuable time hearing the same information twice, my Lady," I lied as convincingly as I could.

"Your lies for your parabatai are almost admirable. But alas, I am not aware of the situation regarding the Flames of Heaven."

I reached out and caressed her cheek. I smiled lazily as I saw her eyes widen infinitesimally.

"Did you feel anything, my Lady?" I asked loftily in a seductive voice. I wanted to push her, just a little.

Just for a second our roles were reversed; I was the one who held the power, who taunted and teased. Until she realised what I was alluding to.

"You have the Heavenly fire within you."

I nodded and held up my golden hand, with golden veins and bones on display.

"You are an interesting puzzle Johnathan Herondale, one I shall endeavour to keep my eyes on. Between you and your Clarissa, you may succeed in defeating your nemesis."

"And as for our preposition, and your favour?"

She examined us closely with a smirk on her lips, "I will think on it. Return to us in three midnights time."

"For three is the number of magic," I said softly.

"Indeed." She rose and exited the chamber, her Court parting like the Red Sea. The gap quickly closed.

"That's it?" Isabelle said in disbelief.

Both Alec and I gazed out into the mass of faeries. "I don't think that's it at all," he said in a hollow voice.

12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 123456789012345678901234567890

**Not telling you who this is, but you may be able to guess. There will be other snippets.**

Drip. Another drop falls, joining the pool of luminous liquid. At first the fluid had flowed in an exhilarating rush, but now it was a languid stream on a warm summer's day, travelling at a slow, unhurried pace. My patience was wearing thin. And she knows it.

12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 123456123456789012345678901234

Jace's POV

Claws raked my back, searing the skin there. As we sprinted towards the lake we'd come through along earthen corridors, I wondered whether we'd make it out alive. And whether the Seelie Queen had planned this. Every time one of us stumbled, the faeries threatened to overwhelm us and bury us in their writhing masses.

I struggled through the water, not knowing whether the Fair Folk were still following me. Not knowing whether Alec and Izzy were still with me. I gasped as I broke the surface, the ground suddenly appearing solid beneath my feet. I spun, looking for my brother and sister, water running from my hair in rivulets.

"Alec? ALEC! ISABELLE!" I shouted until I was hoarse. There was no reply.

I cursed creatively. They could be dead already. I dived beneath the surface of the water again. _Open_, I carved with my stele into the lake bed, violating an Accord or two I'm sure. There was a faint cracking sound. Hell, it was times like this when I really needed Clary. I rewrote the rune several times, and the bottom of the lake caved in for a brief second, taking me with it.

I yelped as a stray claw nearly gouged out my eye. Then I snarled and took out my dagger, slashing out at the nearby faeries. "WHERE ARE ALEC AND ISABELLE?!"

They froze, realising I would start killing soon. Several screeched at me, but released a battered Alec and Isabelle. I pushed them behind me and said,"The next time any of you attempt that again, I will hunt down and slaughter every one of you in vengeance. Understood?"

They laughed like hyenas, but retreated.

"Aww Jace, have you become all overprotective?" Isabelle said, although gratitude laced her voice.

"I protect those I love," I said.

Both Lightwoods' eyes softened. "I think we should put a few iratzes on before we go home," Alec said, looking at us with concerned eyes. "Clary will freak if she sees us like this."

"Magnus will freak if he's sees you like that," I replied easily. Whether he liked it or not, the warlock was still in love with him.

Alec scowled.

"And Simon will go _insane_ if he sees me like this," Isabelle said with a beam.

We quickly applied the marks on each other, as we were drenched in the lake water and eager to return to Magnus' warm apartment. The iratzes left us with only a few minor surface wounds.

"We have to do this again in three nights," Izzy said with a groan.

"They won't be attacking us again," I said murderously.

"Yeah, we heard that threat loud and clear, didn't we Alec?"

Alec glanced distractedly at her, "What?"

"I said-"

"What's up, Alec?" I interrupted, looking at the shy, dark teenager curiously.

"I...I was thinking about what you said about Magnus." He stared shamefacedly at the ground, dragging his feet a little.

"Alec, I interfered earlier when we were leaving. Ask him about what he was going to say."

"I don't want to bother him," he said quietly.

"Talking to you doesn't annoy him. He still loves you the way he did when you were together. You can't force yourself into not loving someone. The Angel knows how hard I tried with Clary, when I thought I was a Morgenstern. Love isn't a choice, its a force that dominates your universe, its gravity constantly pulling you in, so sometimes there's no point fighting the inevitable."

"Now I just have to convince him of that," Alec said with a rueful smile.

12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 123456123456789012345678901234

**This scene jumps ahead, to when Clary has returned home, without Jocelyn suspecting anything!**

Clary's POV

"Can you stay for a while?" I asked my boyfriend.

"In case the nightmares come back?" He whispered back.

I was lying in my bed, and he was cross-legged on the floor, looking up at me. He held my hand in both of his, cradling it against the steady beat of his heart.

"Jace, what does _Erchomai _mean?"

He looked surprised, but answered, "It means 'I am coming'."

I turned my face away from him. Deep down, I'd known it meant that. But how could I have thought that Sebastian would leave us alone? It was only a matter of time until we met again.

"Do you want me to read to you again?"

I turned back to him and smiled, "I'd like that."

He let go of my hand and stood, scanning my bookshelf only by the light of the moon. I heard him laugh softly.

"What? I demanded, my voice slightly raised.

He grinned and showed me the book he was holding. _The Little White Horse. _

"My mom read that to me when I was about seven," I protested.

He moved to sit on my bed. I shifted over so he could lie down, and he draped an arm over my shoulder. And began to read, "_It was all silver. Upon each side of them the trunks of tall trees rose from the grass so silvered by the moonlight it glimmered like water. The trees were not thickly planted, and beautiful glades opened between them, showing glimpses of an ebony sky set with silver stars. Nothing moved. It was all quite still, as though enchanted under the moon. The silvery tracery of twigs and branches above the silver tree trunks was so delicate that the moonlight sifted through it like a fine film of silver dust."_

I closed my eyes and let Jace's voice act as a lullaby, the sweet words of the story singing me to sleep. Pictures of a peaceful silver world starred in my dreams, no angels, no blood, no death. Just serenity. And I could have sworn on my life I heard the rustle of a book closing and felt a soft pressure on my lips before I faded into unconsciousness .

**Yes, The Little White Horse is a real book, written by Elizabeth Goudge. In my defence though, it is an incredibly beautiful, magical book and J.K. Rowling has read it too.**

**If you liked the chapter, you know how to tell me! 30 reviews in total is my goal, so that means only 8 people have to review- PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! **


	8. Drawing you closer

**Fan Fiction- The Mortal Instruments**

**Warning: Spoilers for CP2 in this chapter.**

**Chapter 8- Drawing you closer...**

**How romantic sounding...**

_I was wandering idly through a silver and black forest, illuminated by a suspiciously bright moon. Little silver bluebells blossomed on my path, growing in pretty metallic clusters. I was wearing a short silver dress, and I laughed as it swirled around me. It was like a multi-tiered waterfall, and even as I thought it, a fine spray of mercurial liquid coated my arm. I glanced up to look at the now roaring waterfall. How magical, I thought dazedly. I felt as high as I had after tasting the faerie drugs at the club with Jace._

_Footsteps pounded the soft earth, and I turned to see a Silver Prince, looking slightly out of breath, but composed all the same. He cocked his head to the side as he looked at me inquisitively._

_"Clarissa Fairchild. You are especially reminiscent of your ancestors, aren't you?"_

_"What do you mean, Silver Prince?"_

_He smiled at that. "Never mind that now Clary. What is more important now is that you use your gift in the way it was foreseen by the angels."_

_I looked at him and laughed like a hysterical child. "You're very strange, Silver Prince." _

_He frowned now. "Concentrate Clary. You need to remember-"_

_My Silver Prince was cut off by a different voice, a soft, musical voice, "No, Clary darling, don't listen to him. Your true purpose lies elsewhere, written by the Servants of the Morning Star."_

_"Mmmmm.. Morning Star... pretty, like a shooting star?"_

_The second speaker chuckled. "Exactly, sweetheart."_

_"Clary, no! Don't listen, you can't forget! Clary! CLARY!"_

"_Claaaaaarrryy..." _

_"Claaary..."_

_"Izzy, just wake her up."_

"CLARY! GET UP!"

I bolted awake, almost hitting into a face with two very smug black eyes.

"Sleeping beauty hath awoken from her deep sleep. Let all her servants and peasants celebrate and be joyous."

I looked blearily from her to a smiling Alec, who was waiting by the door. Hopefully I would get more sense out of him. "What are you doing here?" I asked him with a yawn.

Pity now lit his blue eyes. "We're here to train you, Clary. Well, to bring you to the Institute for training."

Izzy's smirk grew even larger as horror dawned on my face. "But I've only been asleep for a couple of hours. That's cruel, even by your standards, Izzy."

"Clary, its almost four in the afternoon," Alec said, not without kindness. "Maryse wanted you there for seven. In the morning."

"How did you get her to let me lie in?" I enquired curiously. Maryse Lightwood had never come across as an overly sympathetic woman.

"We told her about last night." Isabelle said simply, with a shrug.

"And she's cool with it?" I really didn't believe that.

"Not exactly. She said she will be telling Jocelyn as soon as she gets back. She also told us if you weren't ready for training by seven tomorrow, she'd call upon a Clave member to train you."

I was going to be in serious trouble. Especially when Mom finds out just how much time I spent with Jace. Who I was now officially forbidden from seeing.

"Where is Jace anyway?" I wondered aloud.

"Your mom already ranted about how Jace is the worst thing that ever happened to you. Alec and I heard most of it, and we weren't even in the room. Maryse has taken him with her to 'introduce him to how Clave meetings work', since it won't be that long until he gets to participate."

"So he doesn't know anything yet." I could already feel the echo of last night's headache.

"Good luck to whoever has to explain this to him," Isabelle said, agreeing with my tone.

I groaned and rose out of bed. I felt like I hadn't slept in a day. But, on the other hand, I'd told Jace I was serious about becoming a Shadowhunter, therefore complaining would obviously be incredibly hypocritical. It was a lose-lose situation.

"I thought my mom said Maryse had to present during all of my training?" I asked, deciding they probably didn't hear the hopeful note in my voice.

Izzy grinned. "She said she found a _suitable replacement_."

"Meaning?"

"Yours truly," came a lofty voice from the door.

1234567890`12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 21234567890

Her eyes are glassy and unseeing now. Useless. A vague kind of anger swells within me; I'd needed this, and now I'd have to find another source. My gaze rested on the rising flames, each the colour of a lion or a red wolf, battling for dominance.

I knew what I needed to do now, who I needed to find. My fingers brush over dark metal, and for the first time today I feel satisfied.

**Guessed who yet?**

123456789012345678912345678901234567890-1234567890 12345678901234567890123456789

Suffice to say, Magnus Bane wasn't exactly who I'd had in mind when Isabelle had said there would be a replacement. He was, of course, back to his glittery, colourful self.

"Do you even know anything about Shadowhunting?" I asked.

"I've worked with many Shadowhunters over the years. Besides, its Isabelle and Alec who will be training you, not me. My job is to make sure you don't sneak off to find Jace."

"Jace is with Maryse," I pointed out.

He shrugged. I wondered if he would start to mumble about being the Shadowhunters' pet again.

Up ahead, I heard Izzy laugh at something Alec had said. She then shot me a grin over her shoulder. I frowned. Was Alec saying I wouldn't be able to make it through training? A sudden determination rose within me. Well, I would just have to prove him wrong, I thought angrily.

The Institute loomed before us. Despite the fact that I'd been here multiple times, and many of the people I loved lived here, it always seemed foreboding. There was no warmth to the Institute, no sense of life from the outside.

We took the elevator into the main part of the building, where the Shadowhunters resided. I screamed.

And then blushed. Waiting for us was a hooded figure. A Silent Brother. He let his hood fall, and I swore there was a brief light of amusement in his eyes, before he began to speak inside my head. _Good evening, Clarissa Morgenstern. I was rather expecting you a little earlier._

It was Brother Zachariah. He was instantly distinguishable from the other Silent Brothers, with the scars on his cheekbones, and his eyes remained open, not sown like the others.

"You were silver in my dream," I said, not even realising the words were coming out of my mouth. But it was true. My Silver Prince had in fact been Brother Zachariah. I was once again mortified; first the screaming, and now this. They all must think I'm crazy, I thought.

But his eyes widened. It was barely noticeable, just a few fractions, but it was there. Was there more to the dream than I'd thought?

"Silver," I heard Magnus breathe.

"You know something about this?" Alec asked in disbelief.

The warlock's eyes flickered to Zachariah, looking for permission. He looked down, but gave a sharp nod.

"I knew Brother Zachariah when he was a young Shadowhunter. When he was known as James Carstairs."

_Jem to those who loved me, _he added in a quiet, reflective voice.

"Jem was silver-haired and silver-eyed because he... developed an addiction to a drug. Not through his own choice may I add. But once you've taken enough of it, it acts as a life-sustaining poison."

"That seems... paradoxical."

"He needed it to survive, but it was slowly killing him. Without it he had no energy, and would cough up blood."

_It was a particularly cruel way to die. But I live on now, for Tessa Grey, and always for Will._

"Will?" Alec said, startled. He'd heard the name from Camille, and had always felt jealously when the name came up, for Camille had implied something had taken place between him and Magnus.

_Yes. Will Herondale, your own parabatai's ancestor, Alexander. Although you resemble him more than Jonathan does._

Alec stared at Magnus. Magnus smirked slightly, "Young Alexander has rather picked up the wrong end of the stick. How many times have I told you now that Camille is the master of implication and manipulation?"

"Who was he?" Alec said, frustrated at being treated like a child.

_He was my parabatai, and Tessa Grey's lover and husband. He was a parent and a grandparent. He was the man who rode from London to Cadair Idris, in Wales, to save Tessa and help save the world from a clockwork army He was the friend who would have sacrificed the world for either Tessa or I. _He glanced over at Magnus. _The only time your boyfriend was involved with him was when Will was seeking the demon who feigned giving him a curse. Thinking he had that curse gave Will many years of torment,_

"Well, I did kiss him once," Magnus admitted, "But he certainly wasn't expecting it. Neither was Camille, to be honest. Good thing he was drunk at the time, otherwise he may have knocked out a few of my teeth, and broken many bones in my beautiful face."

"Why are you here? Is it about Jace? Or Sebastian?" Izzy seemed to be growing tired of stories of the past.

_Patience, Isabelle Lightwood. You remind me strongly of Gabriel Lightwood. He never seemed able to understand there is a time for the past either._

"Can you get to the point?" Hearing Brother Zachariah's history had made her more confident towards him.

_Do you wish to join us, Jonathan, before we begin discussing your enemy?_

Jace stepped out from behind the corner, his golden eyes unrepentant.

I blinked in shock. "Aren't you meant to be with Maryse?"

"You don't think I know about Jocelyn's evil plan?" he said with raised eyebrows. "I escaped when she told me to meet the Consul for a talk about Shadowhunter politics. By the Angel, I didn't know Nephilim could be as boring as mundanes. So I decided to skip that part."

"Mom will be furious," Alec noted, but he seemed to be on the verge of laughter. Jace, it appeared, was never brilliant at following rules.

Jace grinned at his parabatai; sometimes, their connection was almost visible, when both knew what the other was thinking.

"I take it Clary's training session is to be adjourned then?" Magnus enquired.

_Yes!, _I thought triumphantly.

_There is no reason for that to happen. We can discuss it after she trains._

My like for the Silent Brother dropped away; he'd just condemned me to an evening of misery.

I walked sullenly towards the training room, the others trailing behind me.

_You seem quite unwilling to become a Shadowhunter._ He was gliding beside me, his feet not quite touching the ground beneath the parchment-coloured robes.

I didn't reply, but lifted a seraph blade. The truth was I was afraid. Every other Shadowhunter I'd met had been trained since they were young children. I was starting as a teenager, nearly an adult. My fear was that all my skills would be far inferior to the others'.

Isabelle frowned at me. "Put the blade down, Clary. We have to start with the basics: hand-to-hand combat. If you're ever disarmed, you still need to be able to fight."

"Jace already has been training me. We've already covered that part."

"Jace tends to rush things, and he may have left things out he didn't see as strictly necessary. I'm going to train you as the Clave itself would. For now, you're about... twelve."

I tossed away the knife. Isabelle's many years arguing with her brother had made her proficient in winning discussions with other people.

"Where do we start?" I asked, nervous as everyone had stopped to watch us.

"Basic self-defence and sparring." She pushed back her sleeves, showing her pale arms, lined with scars. She tied her long black hair into a ponytail, and leapt at me.

Needless to say, I hadn't been expecting that. I crashed to the ground, and Isabelle grimaced. "Clary. That was pathetic. Get to your feet."

I clambered awkwardly to my feet, knowing bruises were forming where I'd impacted with the ground. This time I would be ready, I vowed.

She advanced again, her steps light and graceful. I held my hands up to defend myself. I remembered what Jace had said about a low centre of gravity, and quickly changed my stance.

She kicked out at me, deadly and accurate. I took the hit, wincing, surprised she hadn't broken something. Then I quickly retaliated, grabbing her arm and twisting in quickly, then sweeping my leg out, tripping her. And she fell.

"Not bad," she said, and grinned up at me. Apparently, what I'd done had barely affected her. "But you'll need more force in a fight with a demon, or a Shadowhunter like Sebastian or the dark ones. You should be aiming to kill with every strike."

"I don't want to kill you, though," I pointed out.

"I let you win that time. You also need to be faster." I stared at her in disbelief. She merely rolled to her feet and stalked towards me.

By the end, I was exhausted, yet somehow satisfied. Izzy had been harsh, but she'd shown me how I'd really need to fight. She'd given me a glimpse at the real world of fighting, one that involved a high level of technique. In the past I'd only won any fights by the surprise of my attacker, not expecting that I'd actually fight back. That was changing now.

"What are we doing next time?" I asked enthusiastically.

"Shadowhunting's a drug," she said with an understanding smile. "Heck, Jace can't even separate hunting from his normal life. We're going to have to push you though, Clary. We'll work on two attackers next time, and then you'll fight Jace again."

"But I thought you said-"

"Jace was going easy on you before. When you fight him again, he's going to play being Sebastian."

"I always knew I was destined for a career in acting, Izzy," Jace said. "Its great you've seen my outstanding talent too."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "There are _galaxies _out there smaller than your ego."

"Are you sure? I'm afraid you'd have to supply very convincing evidence to prove that," Magnus said thoughtfully. "Now, I think its time to find out what Jem wanted to tell us."

_Indeed. A pattern seems to be emerging from Jonathan Morgenstern's appearances. They always occur after a withdrawal of demonic energy in an area. _

"Why, though, is the next question."

_Perhaps he is experimenting with the new information he has._

"So we look for an area with low demon activity?" Alec questioned, uncertain.

"Do we want to attack him? We don't even know what we're up against." I spoke with firmness. I was sure we couldn't rush into this blindly.

"Clary's right. For all we know, he could be _trying_ to draw us to him." I looked in surprise at Isabelle. She usually agreed with the most reckless, elaborate plan.

"We observe him then, " Jace stated.

"Who's we? Wouldn't it be better to let the Clave deal with this?" Magnus' eyes flicked worriedly to Alec for half a second. It was difficult, knowing the person you loved may go out to fight and lose their life.

"The Clave can't be trusted any more. They're trapped in the past, and are torn. They'll end up taking risks that'll kill too many of us, and we all know our numbers are low enough as it is." Jace talked with passion in his voice, because as much as he hated sounding like Valentine, he truly believed the Clave could no longer help us.

_So it is decided. I will alert you to any changes in demonic levels across the world._

'I thought Silent Brothers had to agree with the Clave. That you _are_ the Clave."

_We are each our own person, and this is not the first time the Nephilim have been failed by the Clave. If this is for the greater good, I have no objection._

_12345678901234567890-1234567890-234567890-23456789 0-234567890-34567890-2345678902_

I looked forward to being reunited. It would be another piece falling into place, obeying my command without hesitation. Each step I took was languid because of this. My blood has made me sharper than any other being on Earth; infinitely superior, making my end goal within reach. Nothing else could hope to compare to me, and I did not say this in arrogance. I knew my capabilities and faults. I would destroy my weaknesses, and I would become supreme. I could practically reach out and touch success now, and my imaginings grew more realistic with each passing hour.

I allowed myself a brief smile, before I unsheathed my blade, and emerged from the alleyway into the crowded, sunlit street. It was easy to run the lovely blade almost tenderly across their throats, watching the precious liquid spill deftly over them. A thrilling, empowering experience. And of course, the path of blood I'd painted would soon bring all my brothers and sisters running to me.

**Okay, I'm assuming you all know who this is by this point. As for the end line, remember that Morgenstern is half-demon, so he would consider them his brothers and sisters, along with Shadowhunters, Jace and Clary.**

**Thank you for reading, and my target for this chapter is an overly hopeful 35 reviews. If I made my goal I'd be ecstatic, and I am completely open to criticism and will appreciate even a couple of words!**

**BlackHeartedTigress x.**


	9. Touched

**Fan Fiction- The Mortal Instruments**

**Sorry these chapters are taking longer to update, but the exams are closer- there may be one chapter after this, and then it'll be the 24th June before I can write again =(.**

**Thank you to all my reviewers- you helped me get above my goal! Yay! I hope I've responded to as many as you as possible! Shout at me if I haven't.**

**Keep the title of the chapter in mind when reading each part- its important to see the significance of the difference in each scene.**

Chapter 9- Touched

**Sebastian's POV**

I strolled down the street, hands in pockets, acting as if I hadn't the slightest care in the world. On the inside though, I was calculating. It was only so long until my brother and sister arrived, as soon they'd realised the pattern I'd laid. For all the angel's blood they had between the two of them, you'd think they'd know I had planned this. But no, they were fools, perhaps even more so than ordinary Shadowhunters. They had even more of the Angel's arrogance, presuming they could stop me.

I paused as I saw another chance to draw demons to me. The last time had been a success, as soon as night had fallen, the blood-soaked street had become a demon feeding ground. Then I'd been able to round them up like vicious sheep and send them to Dimension X. X for unknown, unpredictable and innumerable. X for infinite. X for unstoppable. X for power and mercilessness, savage and wrathful.

It was a small café, in a small street in a large city. That was why this worked so well; mundanes fell for glamours so easily, so when I'd finished here no-one would even notice the carnage left behind for my servants to feast on.

I opened the door, shaking my head at the bell letting the owner know of the new arrival. Little did they know there would be no more entering, and only one client leaving. I slid into a chair by the window, and waited. I knew it would not be long; people are attracted to me as one is tempted to see how far one can lean over an edge without falling. Somewhere, they must sense what I am. What my only purpose was.

I looked up at the waitress, vying for my attention. She had bright red hair, just like Clary. Except she didn't have the burning green-fire in her eyes, that spoke of an unbreakable spirit. No, she was ordinary, with dull brown eyes. Not like my Clarissa.

I thought the name again. Clarissa. What a gorgeous name. It just rolled off the tongue, a bountiful drop of crystalline water. Soon she would be back with me. It was only a matter of time.

"Sir, would you like to order anything?" I was broke out of my thoughts suddenly by a whining sound. I glanced up at the mundane again, and wondered how I'd ever found something like that pretty. She was weak, helpless filth that didn't deserve a place on this planet. Not when far greater species could inhabit it and take it for their own.

"Yes, there is something I'd like," I whispered, causing her to lean in close to me.

"What would that be, sir?" She was whispering now too, her breath light with anticipation. I smiled widely into her trusting eyes.

"I need you." My voice was fervent, and excited, I noticed distantly. How easily mundanes fell for facades.

Her eyes grew wide. I had to hide the disgust I felt. The only girl who could truly satisfy me now was half-way across the world.

Languorously, I stroked my finger down her neck, and down to the swell of her breasts. I stared into her eyes the whole time, and was rewarded with a deep red flush across her cheeks.

"Do you- do you want to go somewhere else?" She was barely breathing any more. I really hoped she didn't faint; it would ruin the show.

"Here is perfectly fine," I murmured. I froze for half a second. Just as I'd taken her scent in, the strangest image flashed into my mind. An image of leaning forward and sinking my teeth into her, and then to tear. To rip into her flesh and gorge on it, until there was nothing but bones left. But it did not unsettle me. Just startled me. It must be the demon blood asserting itself, I thought in amusement.

I'd drawn it out long enough I decided. The attention I'd wanted had been attracted; every eye was on us. Some were filled with self-righteous contempt, others were more interested in what I would do next. Obviously, they were not expecting me to eviscerate her.

**12345678901234567890234567890123456789012345678902 134567890123456789012345678901**

**Alec's POV**

It was safe to say I wasn't looking forward to going to _observe_ Sebastian. Never before had I faced an opponent I knew I hadn't a chance of defeating. From the time my arrow had missed him, I'd known there was no way I could fight him. Jace only barely managed to, and that was out of sheer desperation, and Sebastian hadn't been expecting it. And Jace was the most exceptional Shadowhunter I'd ever seen, until I saw Sebastian.

I stared at the ceiling of my bedroom, feeling overwhelmed. How had this happened so quickly? One minute, it seemed, Jace, Izzy and I had been learning how to fight, and the next we were facing the end of the world. All control I'd had over my life had slipped away. It terrified me. I knew any day now, I could lose my brother, or sister, or even Clary and Simon. I could lose Magnus, who'd always felt so permanent. I could die.

I remembered each separate incidence I'd nearly been killed. The Greater Demon. On the ship. Sebastian when he tried to choke me. Each time, seconds had defined whether I would live or die. Each time, I'd been rendered helpless to save myself, relying on others to defend me, to heal me.

"Thinking heavy thoughts?" His voice was soft and unobtrusive.

I turned my head towards the door, smiling. Once, I may have been horrified if Magnus had shown up outside my room at the Institute, but not any more. I understood now that you can't be embarrassed to be seen with the person you love, or you can't really claim you love them.

"It's been hard not to," I replied.

"But you should try. Is life worth living if you don't enjoy yourself?" He walked forward and sat on the side of my bed.

"Life can't always be rainbows and happiness."

"I don't see why not-"

I looked into his cat eyes. "I think you know that more than anyone."

He frowned, but I could see agreement deep in the very heart of his eyes. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy life when you can."

"No, it doesn't," I said, and touched his cheek lightly. He narrowed his feline eyes, a question in them. It hadn't been that long since we'd got back together after all. And my brother or sister could walk in at any moment.

"I don't think we should-"

He rolled his eyes. "That's _not_ what I was asking for." I felt my face go crimson, and tried to hide it.

"Don't," he murmured, tipping my face up to look at his with a long finger. "You're absolutely adorable when you blush."

Which of course causes me to blush even brighter, to his amusement. Annoyed, I grabbed his arm, and in one smooth motion he was beneath me. "You are..."

"Magnificent? Wonderful? Fantastically amazing?"

"Incorrigible."

He shrugged slightly, but looked at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked, knowing perfectly well what he wanted.

"You're either an idiot, or a tease." With that said, he tugged my shirt, causing me to collapse on top of him."That's better," he said, almost purring.

Succumbing to my own desire, I kissed him, shivering slightly as his hands splayed themselves on the small of my back. Although it had only been a mere week or so since we'd last been like this, it felt as if I had to relearn and re-explore him. My breathing accelerated with every movement I made, feeling his body under mine.

A soft moan escaped my throat, and I knew our positions, and movements were becoming too sexual. I tried to remember that Izzy or Jace could appear at any moment, but my inhibitions were evaporating with every kiss Magnus pressed to my mouth, with every caress of his hands down my body.

His fingers were prying at my shirt. He wanted it off. Now. I sat back, straddling him,and peeled it off impatiently. I could barely recall my own name any more. I just knew I had to get closer to him, to feel his skin against mine. In my haste, I ripped his thin shirt.

He blinked up at me, as if resurfacing to the present. "Do you have any idea of how much that cost?"

"Should I?" I said with a roll of my eyes. I didn't understand how a person could be so crazy about clothes.

"And you're getting carried away," he continued, choosing to ignore me.

"I'm not the only one," I answered, silently cursing the petulant ring to it.

He grinned, and moved us until we were on our sides, facing each other. "Now, I know its difficult, but try not to get distracted again, Alexander-"

I attacked him, not really caring that it would doubtless lead to more heat. If he were sustenance, then I was dying of starvation.

**12345678901234567890234567890123456789012345678902 134567890123456789012345678901**

**Clary's POV**

Wolves hunt together, each attacking from different angles, dragging their prey down. Lionesses hunt together, surrounding their victim, making sure there is no escape. Shadowhunters hunt together, making sure that demon will not surface again for many years. Defending against two shadowhunters had been difficult, and Isabelle and Alec had been ruthless, determined that I would succeed in learning this skill. And so by the end of that training session, I was reasonably confident I could handle more than one attacker.

A peregrine drops from the sky at 200km/h, striking at deadly speeds. A hyena has enough power in its jaws to crunch through bone. A tiger is built of compacted muscle, allowing it to leap with killing grace, its prey unable to escape its tight embrace. Jace, when he was using his talent, bestowed upon him by the Angel, was impossibly fast and strong. There was no way I could ever hope to stop him in any physical way. So I focused on my own ability, creating runes. He came at me over and over, and I had to think like lightning, coming up with any idea to stop him. I often failed.

"Faster Clary. Sebastian is not going to give you even a second if he can manage it."

Frustration bubbled up inside of me, and so I thought back to the day Magnus had frozen Sebastian into a living statue, without him even realising it. I pictured the day as clearly as I could, and let my stele flow over Jace's now outstretched arm. I carved the rune that shone into my mind onto his skin, watching the dark lines spread under the tip of the stele. And he stopped, as if time itself had suddenly decided to cease.

I examined him, knowing it was in no way fake. He was suspended in time, his eyes focused on their target, his muscles still coiled. I touched his arm; he felt as warm and alive as he always did, and his breathing was normal.

Izzy burst into the room, "How's the training going- Oh hell. What have you_ done_ to him?" She looked at her brother, half in concern, half in amusement.

"ALEC! Come see this!" I could hear the delight in her voice. "Clary, make sure he stays like that!" She then hunted in her pocket for her phone. "Simon will absolutely love this!"

A rather dishevelled looking, red-faced Alec appeared at the door. "He's not going to be like that forever, is he?" He asked breathlessly.

"Well, _I _think he rather suits that look. Far less irritating as well." Magnus leant against the wall, looking completely unperturbed. "I'm glad to see I'm an inspiration to you Clary," he added with a wink.

"What are you even doing here?" Izzy asked, but then looked at her brother and hastily muttered,"Never mind."

We all turned back to Jace as he leapt, and crashed to the ground, hitting only the thin air where I should have been. He looked up at us dazedly, "What did you do this time?" I noticed the question was directed solely at me.

"I froze you. Everyone else seemed to find it very entertaining."

He glared fiercely at them, like a lion just escaped from a cage. Eager to exact revenge. And then smiled at me. "Well done Clary. I never even noticed it happen. The only thing is you'll need to increase the duration of time the rune works for, and be prepared for the fact that he may be expecting it. You should spend some time trying to create runes that will help you in a fight, when we're not doing physical training." With that said, he rose to stand, seized Izzy's phone, and threw it, possibly as hard as he could, into the wall. So much for a mature response.

"What is it with you and breaking phones?" Alec muttered, before rolling his eyes and leaving the room. **(Reference to snippet from CoHF)**

"You're going to pay for that," Isabelle stated, not clarifying whether she meant the phone, or that she was going to make him feel sorry for breaking it. With her, it would probably be both. She punctuated it with a flick of her golden whip and left the room with a somewhat sadistic smile on her face.

"Well, Magnus? Any comments? Threats?" Jace said.

A half-smile crossed the warlock's face. "When are you leaving?"

Understanding instantly appeared in Jace's eyes. "Tomorrow, we hope." He watched the warlock carefully, judging his reaction.

But he did nothing more than nod. "Are you all going? Or just a select few?"

"Clary, Alec, Simon and I are going. Izzy's staying behind to guard the Institute when Maryse and Robert are away. Jordan and Maia will stay with her sometimes."

"And me? What am I to do while you're off spying on Morgenstern?" There was a distinctly unhappy expression on his face now.

"Aren't you going to plead for us to let Alec stay behind?" I asked suddenly, curious as why there was no objection on that front.

"How can I?" he replied evenly, yet sadly. "He's a Shadowhunter, and is more likely to be safer when he's with his parabatai anyway. As long as that aforementioned parabatai doesn't do something stupid and life-endangering, of course."

"And when has that ever been known to happen?" Jace said dryly. "But I want you to research dimensional travel, and how to track the... vehicles? We need to have an advantage over him."

"I'll see what I can do." He closed the door behind him, sealing Jace and I in the room together.

All of Jace's focus snapped to me. He regarded me for a moment or two, his eyes skimming me from head-to-toe. "It strange, isn't it?" he began enigmatically,"That despite the fact your mother doesn't want you anywhere near me, we both want to protect you from the Shadow-world. And yet here you stand, a Shadowhunter, ready to take on the role of saving the world against one of its biggest threats, because of me and my siblings. Almost too much irony for one person to take."

"At least you haven't forbidden me from seeing my mom."

"Not yet. But I'll have you know I consider her to be a negative influence you, young Clarissa. We may have to talk soon about your choice in mothers."

"Of course, Valentine. You know, its almost remarkable how much more _alive_ you look since I last saw you." I said sarcastically.

He smiled faintly, somewhat surprised perhaps by his own ability to joke about his childhood father. Only months ago his heart had been torn in two separate directions; the part of him that hated his father, and the part of him that couldn't help but love him. It may not have even changed, but I think he saw the value of his true family, the Lightwoods, compared to man who'd raised him.

"Are you ready for this Clary?" he said, stepping towards me. "You may see things you wish you hadn't."

"I already have Jace. I seen battlefields and bloodshed. I know its not easy, but I can take it."

"You shouldn't have to." He whispered gravely. Another step towards me.

"Neither should you." He raised his hand hesitantly. Was he worried about the Heavenly Fire again?

**Jace's POV**

I raised my hand towards her, wanting to touch her, to feel her pliant skin beneath my palm. I moved slowly, wanting to savour the time I had left. If Sebastian discovered us tomorrow, this could be the last time I was ever able to do this.

Closer and closer I moved, watching her eyes the entire time. The Fire within me made it impossible for us to go beyond any further than a light kiss, but in moments like this, there was more heat between us than there had been in our most passionate kisses. Her eyes were a clear, bright green, the green of a seedling emerging into the daylight. A green speaking of life, of a pure soul.

I simply gazed at her as her hand lifted to meet mine. Our palms pressed together, fingers remaining straight and untangled. It was just a touch, a small amount of skin in contact. But it was a touch representing solidarity, loyalty and love. It was a touch that said, _I know this could be the end, but for this one last time, I need to see you as you truly are. Without the pretence and masquerading; just you._

It was the touch that defined who we were together, Jace and Clary, Clary and Jace. A touch communicating, in the only non-vocal and honest way, true and infinite love.

**I hope this was as sweet as intended. **

**I don't have a goal for this chapter, but I would like you to tell me what you think; you're opinion is important to me. Was it better/worse than previous chapters?**

**BlackHeartedTigress xo.**


	10. Me and Mine

**Fan Fiction- The Mortal Instruments**

**This chapter is going to be a little controversial; keep in mind this is from my perspective, and so while you may not agree with it, its just how I see it.**

**Firstly, I'm going to explain significance of the last chapter.**

**Touched- Morgenstern/girl- His touch is one of deception, intending to cause hurt, irreparable damage and agony.**

**Touched- Lightwood/Bane- Rushed heat- full of uncertainty of the future, he just wants to be as close as possible without considering the consequences.**

**Touched- Fairchild/Herondale- A light touch expressing the meaning of love- trust, faith and belief in each other.**

**Also, I've realised my time-line may be a bit messed up- Team Good are going to have to either observe Sebastian and see the Queen on the same day, or they'll split up. **

Chapter 10- Me and Mine

Two. That's all that was needed. I would kill any others. My demons could bathe in their blood and ashes.

Clary's POV (I had Muse's Futurism in my head while writing this. Don't know who Muse are? Type Muse- Starlight into YouTube!)

Every eternity ends. Therefore it is not. Forever is never a possibility; it is something dreamt up by an unimaginative brain. There are so many different ways to die. Look out for that speeding car; hit at 40mph, you have an 80% chance of dying. Keep an eye on that candle; you don't want to set the house on fire. Immortality is a lie. Some people just live a little longer than others. The world will collapse on them too eventually.

So, although our moment together felt infinite, really it ended as soon as it started. And now, in a blink of an eye later, I was walking home alongside Isabelle, not quite sure of what so say to the girl.

"So, how are you and Simon?" I asked awkwardly.

"We're fine," she replied non-committally.

"Are you two official now? Has he asked you out?"

"No and no. But we're working on it. It doesn't help that he's still a tiny bit afraid of me, and that I'm a tiny bit jealous of you."

"You don't have to be jealous. I'm hardly a threat; Simon and I are just best friends."

"You've known him all your life. I've known him for less than a year."

"Then it'll get easier."

"Maybe. Anyway, here we are. Sweet dreams, Clary." She was walking away before I could even reply. I guess she felt conflicted even in my presence.

"Mom. Luke. I'm home," I called, listening for a response.

"How was training today, sweetheart?" I was surprised to see my mom in overalls, and splattered with paint. I thought she'd stopped after we'd become involved with the Shadowhunter world again. There was a relaxed smile on her face.

"Yeah, it was good," I said, trying to fill my voice with enthusiasm.

"Were Isabelle and Alec harsh?" she said sympathetically, knowing I had feigned excitement, but misinterpreting it.

"A little. But I'm also just really tired now," I yawned, and this time she bought my pretence.

"Okay, baby. You go get some rest. I was thinking we could go out tomorrow and see a movie? You know, just an ordinary night?"

I stared for a second. I could feel tears burn the back of my eyes. I wish I could have said yes. In that moment I would have given anything. But no, I thought bitterly, tomorrow I am going to find my satanic older brother. "I can't mom. Maryse said I couldn't miss a day of training."

Her face fell, and I hated myself. Why was I doing this? "Another day then. That reminds me, I have to call Maryse, ask her about your training."

I almost cursed out loud. "Mom, I don't think you should... I mean I think she's really busy with Clave business.."

"I'm sure she'll have a few spare moments. Now, I thought you were tired?" She raised her eyebrows at me, so, with another internal swearword, I retreated to my bedroom.

**1234567890-234567890123456789012345678901234567890 `123456789`123456789`1234567890**

Alec's POV

"So, Brother Zachariah sent a message. He says demons have just disappeared from Prague. He thinks it has to be Sebastian." Jace leant forward with anticipation.

I sighed. "We have to be really careful when we're there-"

"When you are _where_, Alexander?" A tall figure stood in the doorway. The voice was not a happy one.

We're screwed, I thought with a wince. Mom would be furious when she found about every lie we'd told. I didn't even try to dig myself out of this hole.

"Maryse!" Magnus said joyfully, as if her name had just inspired a great hope. "How was your trip?"

The Lightwood woman moved forward, incredulity in her blue eyes. "You are helping_ children_ go after a mass murderer? Do you not have any sense, Magnus?"

"I have a lot of that actually; living for 700 years tends to help you improve it dramatically. (From reading TMI and the first of the Bane Chronicles, you can tell Magnus lies almost compulsively about his age). And you can hardly call them children, Maryse. If you look at it objectively, you'll see that they're our best chances."

"Objectively?" Her voice was ice. "They are _my _children, warlock. They are not hunting a psychopath, when there are fully trained adults in the Clave who can do it. How can you even say that when you know Alec could be killed?"

"Maryse. Do not presume to tell me how I feel about your son. Regardless of what you and I think, they will still go after Jonathan Morgenstern. Isn't it better we give them any possible help, rather than putting them in even more danger?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, still scowling. I blinked, realising she reminded me of myself.

A shrill noise cut through the tense atmosphere. Maryse held her mobile to her ear. "Hello, Jocelyn."

Isabelle launched herself at our mom without a second thought. "Stop!" she gasped.

"Hold on a moment, Jocelyn." She looked at her daughter with narrowed eyes. "What is it Isabelle?"

"Please, you can't tell her about Jace and Clary."

Maryse spun away abruptly, closing the door so she could continue her conversation in private.

"She's going to tell Jocelyn everything, isn't she?" Jace said with a groan. I could relate to his frustration, as it basically meant our entire plan had been ruined.

But, I also felt heavy relief. A deep knot of anxiety had buried itself in my stomach when we'd made these plans. As every day had passed, I felt like death was drawing closer and closer; like we'd been given the death sentence. Paranoia or not, it was a very real possibility where Sebastian was concerned.

I caught both Izzy and Magnus looking at me with differing expressions, and wondered whether my emotions were written across my face.

"You never actually wanted to go, did you?" Izzy's voice was accusatory.

"Not everyone likes having near death experiences on a daily basis," I snapped defensively.

"You are over-exaggerating!" Izzy shot back. I knew this could quickly ascend into a sibling war. "You know, sometimes you would think that you don't even want to be a Shadowhunter!"

I raised my eyes to meet her defiant black ones. "Maybe I don't," I said quietly.

Jace's expression turned from amused to incredulous disbelief, "_What? _How can you even say that? Why would you even become my parabatai in the first place if you felt like that?"

I could tell my words had done much more than just hurt him; they'd rattled his entire world. The problem was, Jace was delusional. It wasn't fair for me to let him believe a lie. Sure it was good to be able to be fast and strong, to be part of a supernatural world, to wear runes designed by the Angel itself. But it was it worth it, was the real question. Would Max have died if we had have been mundane? No, as Sebastian wouldn't have even heard of us. As brilliant as it was being an elite warrior with angel blood, there was no getting away from the fact it was a violent life.

Magnus shook his head at me in a silent warning, seeing the impending disaster. Seeing everything was about to spiral out of control. He eyes said, _Don't go any further. Whatever you say, you are going to regret it later. _There was a sad knowing in them too.

For a split-second, I considered taking his advice. It would be the most unselfish thing to do. Yet, I'd had enough of doing things just to placate others. "The only reason I'm still a Shadowhunter now is for you. Because I know if I wasn't here, you'd have done something stupid or irrational that would have got you killed, or not seen that attack coming from behind you until it was too late. I don't _want_ to live in a world full of brutality, blood and death. I'd give it up in a heartbeat, if it weren't for you."

An awful silence filled the room, almost tangible with its weight. They could tell how serious I was about this. And they hated it. I must be the most controversial Shadowhunter that has ever lived. The gay, warlock-loving Shadowhunter, who didn't even want to be a Shadowhunter. The punch-line to some terrible joke somewhere, I'm sure.

"Get out of here Alec. Just get out." Jace's voice was flat and vicious.

I opened my mouth, knowing this time thoughtless, hurtful words would flow out, but a hand clamped over my mouth. The other latched onto my arm and dragged me from the room.

I glared at him, rubbing my arm resentfully. "Am I not allowed to speak for myself any more?"

"You said quite enough Alexander. No matter what Maryse says now, you've really messed this one up this time."

My breath was temporarily stolen. "You- you won't support me? I thought you cared about what I believe."

"Alec." He sighed and wrapped an arm around my waist, drawing me closer. "I just think you have a remarkably bad sense of timing."

I rest my head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry. All I want is to be listened to, to have people know who I truly am. I don't want to be someone else's version of myself, I just want to be me."

I felt his lips brush my hair. "I know, sweetheart, I know."

Magnus' POV

Sometimes I hate those huge, soulful blue eyes. If he looked at me like that and told me to jump off a cliff, I would have a hard time saying no. It was even worse when his voice became pleading. Did he not know how desperately I loved him? Even though I'd decided to give up my immortality, I treasured every moment I got to hold him in my arms.

I glanced up from Alec when I heard Maryse striding purposefully down the corridor. She stopped when she saw us. Alec stepped back, his face tinged a little pink. Although he had proclaimed his love for me in a rather drastic way in front of the Clave, he still wasn't overly comfortable showing affection on a regular basis in front of people.

"What did you tell Jocelyn?" I asked solemnly. I watched her closely; I'd known this woman for a long time, and I held great faith in her.

Maryse raised her chin and looked me directly in the eye. "I told her I was pleased with Clary's progress in training and Jace's progress in political knowledge."

I grinned. She had not let me down.

My smile widened as Alec gaped. "You _lied _to her?"

"No. I told her a loose truth. There is a huge difference, Alexander." For the first time in years, Maryse's eyes sparkled. "Hasn't Magnus told you of the old Lightwoods?"

He glanced at me with his eyebrows raised.

"Lightwoods are renowned for deception, my love. This generation is no different, and although your mother was not born a Lightwood, she had certainly adopted the family's traits."

"I guess this means we're going tomorrow." His face was paler than usual, and he looked as if the floor had just disappeared from beneath his feet.

"Is that a problem?" Maryse asked, her eyes perceptive.

"No," he said softly, but there was both dread and misery in his voice.

"You don't have to go," I said, but it was obvious he wouldn't listen to me.

"Yes I do." He pulled away from me completely, striding away towards his room. I stared after him. He was putting so much responsibility upon himself that it was almost crushing him. In brief moments he forgot about it, but it was always there in the background, waiting to fall back down upon him. I had no idea just how long he could bear the weight. Inevitably, he would either have to let it go, or collapse from the burden.

**12345678901234567891234567890123456789012345678901 23456789012345678901234567890123456789**

Clary's POV

_It first burnt with bright flames. When they subsided, the dark ash formed a shape. Or, more accurately, a rune. It was different to the ones I'd seen before. Its lines seemed somewhat insubstantial at the edges, blurring as if weren't fully corporeal. I also didn't know what it meant. Usually I thought of a word, and it formed a rune inside my head, but not this time. Could it be dangerous? Or did it have some special purpose? It couldn't be a coincidence that it appeared the night before I would see my brother again. _

I opened my eyes, looking at the ceiling of my bedroom. The golden word had faded from my wall, but I hated looking at the spot it had been. It was almost as if it was still tainted. I reached out and grabbed my sketchpad and pencil from my beside table. Carefully, I etched the Mark from my dream onto the page. It didn't work; the Mark in my dream had been almost alive and shimmering, this one was dead and lifeless.

This time, I took my stele, and traced it over the lines I'd drawn. I yelped as the paper ignited before my eyes. I hadn't even completed the rune.

Obviously, this rune was incredibly dangerous then. I looked down at the skin on my arm for a second. Perhaps it would only work on a Shadowhunter. A ghastly image of my skin charring and melting rose in my mind, and I quickly put my stele away. Curious as I may be, I was definitely not suicidal.

_Maybe I could use it on my brother_, I thought bitterly. It would certainly be an appropriate way for him to die; fire consuming him, dragging him into Hell, where he would burn for an eternity.

**Okay, title significance is the different family relations- Jonathan's attitude towards Jace and Clary, Jocelyn and Clary's strained relationship, Maryse's love for her children and Clary's attitude towards Jonathan.**

**I may write another chapter before Freedom from Exams day, i.e. June 24th, but don't count on it. On the plus side, it will probably be an exciting chapter when it does get written; they FINALLY meet Jonathan Morgenstern again. **

**I would love to get 50 reviews for this chapter; only 4 to go!**

**Thank you for reading, BlackHeartedTigress xo.**


	11. Ave atque vale

**Fan Fiction-The Mortal Instruments**

Chapter 11- Ave atque vale- Hail and farewell

Clary's POV

I'd decided to visit Izzy before I met with the boys, as I wouldn't see her again before we left. I also recognised I need to make more of an effort if we were ever going to be friends.

I knocked on her bedroom door, listening for a response.

"Alec?" she called out. There was both annoyance and hope in her voice.

"No, its just me," I said, opening the door.

Isabelle was sitting at her vanity table, a silver brush halfway through her ebony hair that was almost iridescent, like the wings of a magpie.

"Clary?" Well, I guess I should have known. My brothers generally don't bother with knocking." Her black eyes regarded my reflection in the mirror thoughtfully. "Do you need something?"

"I came to say goodbye."

Her pale rose lips curved into a radiant smile, and she turned to face the real me. "I'll miss you Clary. I know I haven't exactly been the friendliest, but it's been nice having another girl around here."

"I'll miss you too," I replied with a hesitant smile, but I found that I genuinely meant it. Despite our differences, I'd grown to like Isabelle.

She watched me for a second more, her dark eyes ambivalent. Then she reached around to the back of her neck. Her ruby necklace fell, pooling in her lap. It was a glorious gold sea, with a huge scarlet island. I looked at her questioningly.

"I want you to take it," she said.

"Izzy, I can't-"

"Yes, you can. I'm not doing this out of the kindness of my heart, Clary, I'm doing it because its a necessity. It will give you all a few seconds warning, and those few seconds may just save your lives."

"But what about you?"

"I'm going to be doing what I've done for most of my life. Jace and Alec have never needed it, so neither will I."

She stood, her expression clearly showing there would be no more discussion, her necklace in her long, slender hands. Instead of attempting to fight her, I accepted the gift. It was precious it numerous ways.

"Lift your hair," she murmured, and she draped it around my neck, fastening it in place. The cold weight of it was uncomfortable and unfamiliar, but I told myself that a little discomfort was better than potential death.

"Thank you," I said, and she shrugged in answer, as if it had been a trivial matter. "Do you know where Jace and Alec are?" I asked.

Isabelle bit her lip, looking unusually worried now. "I don't think they're on the best of terms right now. Alec may have implied her wanted to give up being a Shadowhunter, and Jace... _and I_ over-reacted slightly."

Shock was the only emotion I felt. Why would he say that? _How _could-

A sarcastic, incredulous voice interrupted my thoughts. "_Implied? _You heard him, Iz. He said it outright."

Unhappiness saturated her next words. "I know but-"

"We don't have time for this," he said, cutting her off ruthlessly. "I told Simon we'd meet him at eleven. We're already running late."

"'We' meaning you and Clary?"

"Obviously," Jace said bitterly. "Come on Clary. We have to leave _now."_

I frowned slightly, but said a quiet, "Goodbye Izzy."

"Until next time. And there had better be a next time." With that warning said, she ushered me towards the door, closing it behind me.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Jace began striding away. I had to run to catch up to him. I glanced over at him. His jaw and fists were clenched with tension and his breathing was uneven.

"_Jace. What _happened?"

10 minutes earlier, Jace's POV

As we added the last few weapons to the bag, the memory of yesterday burnt in my mind.

"I don't think we'll need swords, Jace," Alec said, looking slightly startled.

I swung the tip towards him. "What was that last night?" I demanded abruptly.

Alec froze. I suppose he hoped I'd forgotten about it, especially considering what we had to do today. "It... I was just frustrated. It wasn't true."

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" I let the sword rest over his heart.

He slowly raised his eyes from the arrows he was holding. His eyes looked like blue fire. _"What does it matter whether it was a lie or not?_ In the end, all it will ever be is a foolish dream. I can't escape this life, not now, maybe not ever. I'm like a person wandering through the desert, praying desperately for water, while the sun burns brighter than ever."

"How poetic," I remarked acidly.

"That's _not _the point. The point is, every step of the way they'll be hoping for water. They won't stop hoping until they die from dehydration. _I _won't stop until torn open by talons or poisoned by deadly venom. Or ran through by a sword," he said the last part while pointedly looking down at the blade.

A wild fury swelled in my gut. Although I knew it was from hurt and the realisation that what I wanted was not the same for everyone, but I could only think he was being completely irrational and overwhelmingly selfish.

"If we don't stop the demons, tell me who is, Alec? We were _born_ to do this; we have a responsibility to defend people, to protect mundanes from being slaughtered by beings they didn't even know existed. That's not just something you can... carelessly throw away as if it doesn't affect you." I leant on the sword, so the sharp tip now pierced his shirt and skin. A drop of blood welled, soaking into his shirt.

Angrily, he pushed the sword away from him, shaking his head. "_I know that._ I also knew you wouldn't understand. You never have, not when it comes to me. You're so fixated on yourself that you cannot _imagine _anyone else has a different point of view. You can't _fathom_ that you may be wrong about this."

"Go to hell," I said flatly, grabbing the bag and throwing it over my shoulder. I let the sword fall to the ground, clattering horribly on impact. "Don't presume to think there's even a chance you're coming with us now."

Alarm filled his face. "Jace, I have to go. You can't stop me-"

I ignored this. "I guess you get what you wanted after all," I said cruelly, slamming the door.

Alec's POV

I stared at the door, which was still vibrating on its hinges. The pain I felt was like no other. It was the pain of failure and betrayal simultaneously. It was the sharp agony of having your beliefs put before the firing line, soon riddled with holes.

"This isn't what I wanted at all," I whispered.

Clary's POV

"Well?"

"We fought again," he answered tonelessly. And I guess that's what it meant to be parabatai. When they fought, both of them became totally distracted by it; it was constantly on their minds, and affected everything they did. Although I'm sure that observation wouldn't please Jace in the least at the moment.

"Where are we meeting Simon?" I asked, hoping a subject change might alleviate his mood.

"Just outside the Institute. We'll portal from them there too."

"Is Magnus creating the Portal?" I remembered his comments about 'not wanting to be called every time a Shadowhunter needed a toenail clipped'.

Jace smiled, just a tiny bit. "Yeah. He said that this was 'sufficiently important for him to be required'. Which basically translates to he's happy right now because he's just got his boyfriend back. It won't be long before his 'generosity' wears off."

He held the Institute door open for me, and I walked out into the not so fresh air of New York City.

I grinned when I saw Simon, rushing over to hug him.

"It's only been a couple of days, Clary," he said, laughing.

"You haven't missed me at all?" I said teasingly.

"Mmmm... Nope, I hadn't really noticed to be honest."

I rolled my eyes, but I became more sombre when I saw Magnus waiting by the Portal. "Are you sure you want to go?" I asked desperately.

"Clary, you're going. That leaves me no choice."

"Ah, the stupid things people will do in the name of love. There is really no end to the list, is there?" Magnus tilted his head to the side, like a curious cat, "Speaking of. Isn't there meant to be another one of you?"

"He... decided he would rather stay to help Izzy," Jace said shortly. I admired him for that. No matter how angry he was with Alec, he still wouldn't talk badly about him. Instead, he'd made a fight look as if his parabatai had done something honourable.

"Of course he is," Magnus said brightly, so brightly it was evident he was thinking, _Yeah, right. And I've heard he's also taken up professional tightrope walking. _"Well good luck anyway little Nephilim. And you too Simon."

"Thank you," Simon and I murmured, both knowing we owed a lot to him.

Jace merely looked irritated, probably by the use of 'little', "Goodbye, unnaturally tall and annoying, aspiring to be a multi-coloured zebra warlock."

Magnus bared his teeth slightly at Jace, but then winked at me when he passed through the Portal.

I faced the swirling door, feeling wary. Not many of my experiences with Portals had been particularly pleasant. I kept my eyes opened as I stepped through it, the familiar wave of complete disorientation swelling over me.

Magnus' POV

A strange sense of loss overcame me as I watched them disappear. I felt as if it had been the final goodbye, that they'd been soldiers going off to fight a hopeless battle.

"Are you going through the Portal or not?" I demanded impatiently. Upon hearing no response, I spun to face him.

He was wearing one of his brown-that-used-to-be-black sweaters, and jeans. Definitely not Shadowhunter gear. I frowned. He'd seemed pretty damn determined to go last night. "So, _did _you decide to stay with your dear sister to help defend the Institute?"

Confusion touched his expression, and a reluctant affection quickly replaced it. As I'd thought, Jace had lied for him. "Not exactly," he said wryly.

"What?" I asked, wondering at his apparent amusement. I'd expected anger, franticness, sadness, but not _amusement. _Although I suppose it made a nice change; I had enough of angst-ridden teenagers to last a lifetime. Or three.

"It seems Jace isn't quite as honest as he would like us to believe."

"Or perhaps he values loyalty over honesty. He's never spoken a bad word about you that wasn't said to your face... And so it appears, for all his scathing remarks, there is a decent person behind the mask."

Alec snorted, not seeming to entirely agree.

"Now you're just being petty. If he told you to stay behind, there was most likely a good reason behind it."

"We'll see," he muttered, probably envisioning all of the ways Jace could get killed without him there to watch his back.

"On the bright side, at least if he gets killed you can say 'I told you so'."

"_Magnus..." _he said with an imploring look. I just shrugged my shoulders. Despite my speech, I still had mixed feelings about the sardonic blond Shadowhunter.

"What do we do now?" he questioned. He seemed to feel obligated to spend all of his time working now, since he wasn't going to Prague.

"Well, we have to pay the Faerie Queen a visit tonight," I started.

"And now?"

I smiled and slipped my hand into my jacket, pulling out a small metal object. I tossed it to him, knowing I could trust his ingrained reflexes to catch it.

I watched him closely as he opened his hand. He stared at the key for a moment, before his eyes moved to mine. "What exactly are you suggesting?" he asked, blushing lightly.

I stalked towards him, and ran a glittery dark blue nail down his chest. "What ever you want," I murmured seductively, hearing his breathing catch.

"What do _you_ want?" he whispered, barely able to get the words out. His shyness was adorable; he still seemed so innocent, despite everything we'd done together.

"_You_, my sweet Alexander. You're all I ever seem to want."

Sebastian's POV, Prague (6/7 hours in front of New York)

My patience was wearing thin. Yet another sunset approached, and yet there had been no sign of dear Clarissa or Jace. Perhaps I'd miscalculated, been too subtle? I swore and smashed the wine glass I was holding. If they weren't here now, then in all likelihood they wouldn't be arriving at all. My next display would have to be huge. I had to show such an array of power and mercilessness that their hands were forced. I would raise hordes of demons, if that's what it took. _ You will not evade me for much longer, sister. _

I snarled as I heard a timid knock on the door. "Who is it?" I picked up a knife, ready to kill whoever it was if this was not important.

"Your sssservant, my glorioussss massster," the voice said.

"Come in then."

The demon entered, the caramel and purple waves of her hair bouncing slightly. Her tanned skin was flawless, her eyes the colour of dark honey. Really, she would have been perfect, if I had not been so focused on Clarissa. And if I didn't know she was a Eidolon demon, a shape-changer.

"You have news?" I enquired coldly.

"Yes, my lord," she said, sounding like sparks from fire. "There has been ssssome recent Portal activity."

"And you have proof of this? You do know how I hate false alarms." I said, holding my knife up to examine the dully shining metal.

"Yes, Yessss, my lord. I would not have come if I didn't."

"And where do these sources come from? Not Raveners, I hope?

"No, my sssources are reliable and competent."

"But do we know it's them?" I said thoughtfully.

"Do you wisssh me to find out, massster?"

"No thank you. You have fulfilled your purpose."

"My lord?" She asked uncertainly.

Her screams rang off the walls as my dagger pierced her, low, inhuman screeching. It would not have been good to have valuable information in the hands of a demon. They were known for impulsive, rash decisions, usually ending in death.**(please see the irony here, after what he's been doing and has just done). **My Clarissa was here, now all I had to do was seek her out.

Which would be simple enough, I mused, lifting a shred of tatter red cloth. The cloth from the robe Clary wore in _Poll na Mbrón. Now all that was needed was a warlock._

_ I exited the room, and proceed to one with a lock on it. I removed a key from my pocket, and opened the door._

_ Chains rattled as she lunged at me. "Let me out of here, demon, or you'll regret it very soon."_

_ "Demon?" I asked._

_ "The Nephilim are an honourable people. You are... nothing but pure, concentrated evil."_

_ I laughed, as if amused. "You're going to help me, warlock. You're going to help me set fire to the world."_

_ "I will ____never,__ no matter how much you torture me." _

"Not even for your dear friend?"

She stared at me, trying to discern whether I was bluffing or not. Her blue cheeks darkened with rage.

"What I need from you, Catarina Loss, is to perform a tracking spell."

**Okay, I know this isn't as long as some of the others, but I haven't had much time. I also know that I've been dragging this 'going to Prague thing' out for a very long time, but I promise they will be there by the next chapter. I also know there hasn't been much romance, but I don't think Clary and Jace are thinking about that right now! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I really want to get 1 review, as that will mean I will have 50! Please tell me what you think! **

**Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read to this point, and even more to the people who have reviewed.**

**BlackHeartedTigress xoxo**


	12. Nefarious Negotiations

**Fan Fiction - The Mortal Instruments**

Chapter 12- Nefarious Negotiations

Clary's POV

Together we navigated the winding streets of Prague, from the outskirts towards the centre of the city. We didn't have a specific destination in mind, so really it was guesswork and assumptions we were relying on. It would have been a reasonably pleasant journey, the only problem was the heavy silence. It wasn't just us, it was as if the city had suddenly been evacuated. Shops and market stands lay abandoned, goods still on display. It didn't even look as if any violence had taken place, just as if everyone had vanished all at once. I shivered. It was ghostly.

"Do you think he's still here?" Simon asked, breaking the eerie quietness, although the emptiness made his voice echo. "After all, it was yesterday we were told about the demons disappearing."

"He's here," Jace replied grimly. I knew I felt the same way. Maybe there was something strange in the air, perhaps it was an innate sense, like how a subconscious part of me had known he was my brother from the moment we met. Regardless of what exactly it was, I knew I would see my brother tonight, and it filled me with adrenalin; partly from fear, partly from the thrill of the danger.

Snow now dusted the cobblestone streets, a diaphanous white layer. Footprints were clearly visible, black marks in the pristine whiteness. Just ahead of me I could see small prints, quite a distance separating each one. Perhaps it was a child who ran home, not wanting to stay out in the cold any longer. But no, I was positive that was not it, as alongside it were large prints, vaguely reminiscent of a bear. When I looked into the distance, the tiny footprints stopped, and the snow was red with blood. Simon and I looked at in horror, while Jace gazed, detached, at it.

"He's a monster. A soulless monster," I whispered.

"What else do you expect from a demon with a shadowhunter's face? Every emotion that crosses his face is feigned, Clary. He does not feel love or happiness or remorse, he is a destructive, bloodthirsty demon who will never display any mercy without any ulterior motive. Do you understand?" His voice was harsh, but I knew what he was saying. It was him or us. He would not offer any pity to us, and so we must do likewise if were to have any chance of overcoming him.

"Clary knows that. She's already seen first hand what that bastard is like," Simon said, coming to my defence.

"Do _you_ know what he's like? Because you do realise out of the three of us you're the most expendable. He'll kill you without a second thought, but he still has some sort of an attachment to us. Obviously he wants us to play a role in destroying the world." "I thought maybe 'cause I'm a Daylighter-"

"What use does he have for that? Downworlders may be interested in you, but I wouldn't assume he is."

"Then why bring me if you knew that? Why not just take Clary?"

Jace stopped, his eyebrows raised incredulously. "One, because we're not actually supposed to be fighting Sebastian. Two, would you honestly have stayed behind if Clary was going?" His voice took on a scornful tone, "You're like a little dog who blindly follows his mistress everywhere."

I saw the anger on Simon's face, and quickly intervened. "Stop it, Jace. I thought you two were over that stage?"

"Over the stage were he constantly taunts me hoping for a response?" Simon snapped, his voice becoming slightly shrill.

"Keep your voice down, vampire," Jace hissed, his eyes now scanning the shadows.

"You see, he still calls me that. Vampire. That's all I am to him, an undead downworlder-"

I felt a hard pulse against my neck. "Simon, be quiet," I whispered urgently.

"Now you too? I cannot believe this!" Jace his hand over Simon's mouth at this point, swearing softly as fangs pierced his skin. But he didn't let go. Instead, he dragged the two of us over to the shadows, his gold eyes wide.

The ruby stone was now beating like a second heart against my chest. I looked both ways down the cobblestone street, but I could see nothing. The necklace had never been wrong though; there were demons nearby, we just couldn't see them.

**12345678901231234561234567890123456789012345678901 23456789234567892345678**

I smiled as I saw her eyes frantically searching through the darkness. It was undeniable that she was terrified, but I was certain it was not of the demons, but of seeing me. Feeling someone else's fear is somewhat empowering I'd discovered, but this was a rush of delicious ecstasy. She knew I was smarter, stronger and faster than they could ever be. I savoured it a moment more.

**12345678901231234561234567890123456789012345678901 23456789234567892345678**

I flinched as I felt a droplet fall on my shoulder. Perhaps it was the darkness of night-time, but it looked oddly opaque...

**12345678901231234561234567890123456789012345678901 23456789234567892345678**

At first she would think that it was perhaps a droplet of water from the gutter above, but soon she would know her eyes were not deceiving her, and the drop really was a viscous black liquid.

**12345678901231234561234567890123456789012345678901 23456789234567892345678**

Cautiously I dipped my finger in it. Rubbing it between my thumb and forefinger, I could tell it was not water. Warily, I lifted it to my nose, inhaling. And gagged on the putrid smell of rotting flesh. I had placed the scent immediately; demon blood. Trembling as more drops landed upon my shoulder, I looked upwards.

**12345678901231234561234567890123456789012345678901 23456789234567892345678**

She looked up, right into my eyes. I knew she could make out the burning triumph I'd decided to wear, as her green eyes became fierce. That is what I liked about Clary; she didn't become weak and helpless like so many others before her, no, she manipulated her fear into a strength, used it to propel her into action.

"Jace!" He followed her gaze, cursing when he saw where it rested.

I leant back on my hands, giving off the impression I was entirely relaxed about the situation. "Brother, sister, vampire. How wonderful it is to see you all again. You see, I've been waiting for you for a while, ever since.. well, the unpleasantness of our last meeting, but I'm sure we can all be friends again. One way or another."

"You want to turn us into more of your demon-shadowhunter slaves!"

"Clary, darling. I've seen the error of converting you into one of my faithful servants. Not only would I lose that fiery nature of yours that I desire so badly, but I would also run the risk of losing your precious gift."

"You are revolting. Clary does not belong to you!" Simon had freed himself, and was shaking with fury.

"Cool your temper vampire, otherwise my servants will dispatch of you. Now, if the three of you come willingly, I'll be a chivalrous host. If not, I will be your tormentor. Your choice." I casually tapped my watch, indicating they had little time to make their decision.

"Go to hell, Jonathan Morgenstern. If you think you can fool us into thinking-"

"I'll go with you," she interrupted. "I'll do whatever you want, but on the condition you leave Jace and Simon alone."

"Whatever I want?" I mused, considering it. "How do I know you won't turn against me as soon as I let them leave?"

"Clary, you can't-" I waved my hand carelessly towards him, and several of my dark followers leapt forward, restraining him.

"Now we can talk," I said. "So?"

"I'll give you my word."

I laughed. "Don't insult my intelligence Clary. I'll need far more than that." I was interested to see what she would come up with next.

She swallowed, and I knew she was going to make a sacrifice that would be believable even to me. "I'll give you my stele. Without it I'm just an ordinary Shadowhunter."

"How do I know you wouldn't find one? You seem to be quite a curious little thing when I last saw you." I remembered the time I'd caught her searching my room in the house that had travelled through dimensions. The one she'd exploded.

She bristled at my use of 'little thing'. Evidently she didn't not particularly enjoy endearments that referenced her height. "If you're careless enough to leave steles lying around, then I don't really need to insult your intelligence, do I?" She said this while looking directly into my eyes, her voice confident.

"It's a deal then," I said with a smile, dropping from the roof's edge to stand beside her. She kept her head held high.

"Ravenscar, fetch Catarina. She can create the Portal for these two to return home." A towering dark-haired Shadowhunter nodded his head at me, quickly moving to follow my orders.

"Catarina Loss works for you?" she asked in confusion.

"She does now," I answered, not giving anything away. Clary could assume whatever she wanted about our terms of employment. I held out my arm to her.

"I can walk by myself," she said coldly.

I shrug and let her have her way for now. Right now it was in my interests to appease her.

"Nightwine, Youngblood, will you escort these two gentlemen to the Staromestske Namesti, Old Town Square. Loss will wait for them there."

"We've already found loss," Jace said bitterly.

I looked at him, bored. "You have not lost anything tonight, brother. You and Clary will live on. You can run home and tell your little friends all about me, plot to bring me down, etcetera, etcetera. Be grateful I didn't light your vampire on fire and cut your throat."

Before Jace could reply, my dark shadowhunters began dragging him away. It can't have been easy; he fought every step of the way, twisting, biting, punching. They outnumbered him though, and soon he and the vampire were out of sight.

Clary's eyes faded slightly as he disappeared from view, as if he'd taken her hope with him. "Time to go home, then, brother," she said in a false show of courage.

"Indeed," I murmured, and this time she took my arm when I offered it to her.

**12345678901231234561234567890123456789012345678901 23456789234567892345678**

"Get off me! I'll remember your faces, trust me. Next time we meet, I'll put a blade between all of your shoulders... You probably have so much demon blood that you'll disappear exactly like they do!" Jace was stilling yelling at them. I had given in awhile ago; there was no point in fighting now. There would be another opportunity for us to kill these monsters, but for now we were the captives.

A blue-skinned woman was standing several metres away, chanting a spell. This must be Loss. I wondered what Sebastian had done to get her on his side... I suppose it would be a combination of death threats and blackmail.

She stepped back, her head bowed at the shame of the actions she was forced to carry out. Her eyes remained on the ground as we were pushed through the Portal, perhaps not wanting to see the victims of her master.

I fell on the hard pavement of a street in New York City.

"I'm going to kill them. I'll make them wish they'd never drank from that cup-"

"Yeah, I already heard the past eight times, " I said shortly.

He turned on me, his eyes on fire with flames of dark gold. "Why didn't you do anything? You just _stood there _and _let him_ take Clary-"

"If I had have tried anything, one of us could have been killed," I was not about to enter a screaming match with Jace. Instead, I appealed to him with logic, "We were surrounded and outnumbered. There was nothing we could do. Isn't it better we return here alive so we can plan what to do?"

He took a shuddering breath. "He has Clary." And that was all he needed to say. It was all we'd ever cared about.

"He values her, so he won't try anything, you said so yourself. We'll get her back, Jace."

A sigh rattled out of him. "We should have seen it coming, Simon. He's always been two steps ahead of us. We were idiotic to think we could get away with observing him."

"We won't let him be two steps ahead again. No, next time it'll be us, I swear it will be."

**12345678901231234561234567890123456789012345678901 23456789234567892345678**

I figured the best strategy for now was to feign compliance, not that he would fall for it a second time. Although I wasn't going to believe his charade either; I knew I was a piece in his puzzle, something he needed to help him accomplish his end-goal. I was a means to an end, and as soon as I wore out my use, I would be executed. Or perhaps devoured would be a better word, considering the demons he had under his control.

This travelling house was different to the other: it was designed to unsettle its prisoners. This time there was no pretence of free will, everything was sterile black and white with doors that could only be opened from the outside. I was in an ultra-modern jail.

He led me to a nondescript door, just like all the others, and opened it, revealing the cell I would inhabit. A plain white bed, a beside table and a cupboard were the only furniture.

"How do you like your new home?" he said.

"Perfect, except for one thing."

"And what would that be?"

"I want pencils and paper." I spoke the words firmly.

"You're not really in the position to make demands, dear sister, but you shall have them. In return you will give me Marks."

"For what?"

"That's my business. And unless you show some gratitude, I may have to retract my kind offer."

"_Thank you brother," _I said, making sure every words dripped contempt and hatred.

"You're welcome, sister," he replied, unaffected by my attitude towards him. "Now, I have work to attend to. I'll give you some time to settle in." He left, locking the door behind him. I sat on the edge of the bed, suddenly exhausted. I'd escaped from him just to be recaptured. At least Jace was safe. _Jace, _I thought, and hunched forwards, tears overwhelming me. I cried until misery turned to visceral rage. I would find a way to tear Jonathan Morgenstern down. He would not continue his reign of terror for much longer.

I began to laugh as the room ignited, the deadly mark I'd seen before traced on the walls over and over until they were overlapping. It was as if oil coated the white walls and a lit match had been thrown against it. The flames grew larger and larger until they engulfed me.

I was not afraid. This was Heavenly Fire, and I belonged to Heaven, as its blood ran through my veins. Erchomai, brother, Erchomai.

**Yeah, I know, very dramatic. I hope I haven't lost all my followers after my huge absence, but I now should be able to update more regularly. Let me know what you think, BlackHeartedTigress. xo**


	13. Coalescence of Darkness- Faith

**Fan Fiction- The Mortal Instruments**

Chapter 13- Coalescence of Darkness/ Faith

Alec's POV

_A Guide to Inter-dimensional Travel, updated on 1st Jan. 2008._

_Whilst I-dT is one of the most complex forms of magic that exists in the underground of today's society, it has been proven to be entirely possible, the first successful use beginning with Valentine and Jonathan Morgenstern. In addition to the large step forward in scientific invention it has sparked, it has also raised a significant, but rather unsurprising level of controversy._

_ The cause of this controversy? The means by which these I-dT machines are procured. Although Inter-dimensional Travel is possible, it seems only to be so through the use of Dark Magic; the notoriously unpredictable form of magic often involving non-consensual blood sacrifices (for more information on Darkly Magical Instruments, Spells and Gramaryes _**(spell-books =)**)_, purchase A Guide to Dark Magic)._

I could feel the worry on my face as I asked, "Magnus, you don't know any warlocks practising Dark Magic?" This, of course, was illegal under Clave Law, and probably warlock laws too, and would result in long-term imprisonment.

"_No." _His answer was sharp, and his eyes flickered. There was the same look in them as when he denied knowing of Valentine's existence; he was lying. I suppose he felt his loyalty to his race was greater than that to Shadowhunters. It still saddened me though that he felt he had to lie to me. I would never betray his trust, never again, but I guess that was the price of my actions

"Well, clearly the only way Sebastian could have created the I-dT machine is through that," I replied, my tone a little harsh due to his unwillingness to tell me anything.

"I don't know who it is," he insisted, his eyes narrowing.

"I wasn't saying you do. I'm just telling you what I know."

"Or what you_ think_ you know," he muttered, turning back to his own book, one written some variation of a demon language.

I shot him a dark look, which I knew he seen from the slight twitch of his lips, but otherwise he didn't respond. I sighed and continued reading my own.

_ The purpose of I-dT is often vague, leading to further contention regarding this issue. Theorists, such as Rosemarie Youngblood would suggest that this type of travel could cause ruptures between separate universes, allowing demons to leak from to the other at will, spreading disease, destruction and chaos. Furthermore, she would say that the Dark Magic involved means that there would be no moral or lawful way to bring this type of technology into existence anyway, and that the majority of Shadowhunters would be against it._

_ Her sister, Ashlin Youngblood, would strongly disagree though. She says that the Dark Magic used is a 'necessary evil to open up a whole new field of scientific research', something she would claim Shadowhunters have been lacking in over the past century. 'Look at what was invented in the 19th and early 20th century, Ashlin reports, "The sensor, a device used to detect demon levels. The portal, a door that can take you to anywhere on earth. Can we truly believe there have been no Shadowhunter genii since Henry Branwell, the inventor of both of these technologies? If we could begin wide-scale use of I-dT, we would become the Shadowhunters of our generation, remembered well into the future._

_ 'As for the worries about the so-called ruptures? Where is the evidence? I, and many experts agree, think this is purely scaremongering, nothing less. It is undeniable that in the future there will be a call for new planets, especially as today's young generation of Shadowhunters seem barely able to hold back the ever-increasing flood of demons._

_ 'One can hardly even say young Shadowhunters have been able much more than scrape a pass in the standard Clave-approved training. I mean, we've all heard the news of the Lightwood family and Valentine Morgenstern's daughter; if you're looking for chaos you don't need to look much further. The parents were all in the Circle, Valentine's terrorist group, Isabelle Lightwood mixes with the darkest of Downworlders, unbeknownst to her ignorant and foolish parents, and then there's Jonathan- Jace- Lightwood, an adopted Herondale boy, raised on Valentine's beliefs. You want proof the younger generation of today is hopelessly corrupted, then you need not look any further than the infamous Jace and Clarissa- Clary- Morgenstern. Even when they believed they were brother and sister, they still continued their relationship, and of course it is clear Jace has been hugely affected by his upbringing in his utter disrespect for the Clave. It is even thought he could be a threat in the future, with his ideas of purification and cleansing, so similar to Valentine's._

_ 'And I think we were all forced to witness the disgrace that is Alexander Lightwood. By the Angel, even with his parents' reputation I still almost feel sympathy for them. I guess it shows karma in action though, and how embarrassing it must have been when the boy dared to flaunt his relationship with the rather suspicious male warlock Magnus Bane in front of the entire Clave. It was almost as if he was proud that he had done such a thing, while his parents stood by absolutely shell-shocked. Personally I feel that he, and any others like him, should be exiled from the Clave immediately. I'm telling you, as soon as we allow his type into the Clave, it'll be a slippery slope from there; what other degrading practices will we begin to accept?-_

A familiar sickness rose within me. So this was not an article on I-dT. No, it was an excuse to strike out at my family and I. _Degrading_, I thought, and looked over at my boyfriend. Love was love, wasn't it, no matter what form it took? He tore his gaze from what he was reading to glance up at me in concern, "What's wrong, Alec? I didn't quite think that travelling between universes would be..._ horrifying_. Really, you're as pale as a ghost, excuse the cliché."

Wordlessly, I handed him the article, watching his eyes scan over it, finding the part that had caused my reaction.

"Ah, the Youngbloods. I don't think Ashlin has ever been particularly friendly, but after her brother Flynn drank from Sebastian's demon cup, she's been a lot worse. Taken every opportunity she could to attack anyone involved with the battle in Ireland . You should have  
seen the things she wrote about Luke and Jocelyn," he said, shaking his head. "Makes those things look like compliments. Not that anyone pays much heed to what she says, but still."

"You think I should just ignore what she said?" I asked, partly curious, partly in disbelief.

"Alec. You love me, right?"

"Yes. Definitely, of course I do," I said, taken aback slightly.

"Then what's the problem? Does it honestly matter what she, a bitter old bitch, thinks?"

"I just hate knowing that there are people out there who abhor me just because of what I am. Its so unfair that they can just have this preconceived opinion when they've never even met me. They don't know what I'm like, if I'm a good person or a bad person, but they think they can just judge-"

"Ignore them. If they don't know you, then why even listen to their opinion about you when you know they're false?"

"I'm not bullet-proof. It hurts me, even when I know its not true."

"Well, then, Ashlin's got it right about Shadowhunters being a bit behind the times. Even mundane police officers have had bullet-proof vests for years."

I rolled my eyes, and he smiled and continued softly, "I know what it's like. Constantly being judged by everyone around you. Shadowhunters despise me for having magic; they hate me having an advantage over them. Valentine himself questioned ?Raziel? on why he would bestow such gifts upon lowly, not even fully human Downworlders. Don't interrupt Alec, as I'm perfectly aware that you, and an increasing number of others don't feel that way, but the majority still do, especially within the Clave. That was what I liked about Will, you know, he treated me as a fellow human being, worthy of the same respect as anyone else," I saw a great deal of wistfulness on his face at this, and knew he missed his friends of that era. It had never really fully occurred to me how difficult it must be to meet great friends, and then watch them die, every single time, as you remained unchanged. Why would anyone with a heart want to be immortal? "Mundanes recoil in horror every time they see these, " he said, indicating his beautiful, yellow-green cat-eyes with a long, hand, fingers flayed in all different directions. "You are not alone Alec."

The second time I'd been told that in a matter of days. Perhaps I needed to start listening to what people were telling me, particularly considering they were the ones who knew me best and cared for me the most.

"I know that, "I murmured, feeling a wave of empathy and also gratitude towards him. "Have you found anything?" I said, abruptly changing the subject back to what we were meant to be researching tonight, I-dT.

He gave me a keen searching glance, before looking down bleakly at the demon book, "What do you know about Dark Magic, Alexander?"

"Not much. Basically that it's evil, usually involves pain and is illegal."

"I'm not surprised the Clave don't teach you about it any more," he replied grimly, "Not after what happened last time."

"Last time?"

"Valentine and Jonathan Morgenstern weren't the first shadowhunters to cause a bit trouble-"

"_A bit of trouble!"_

"Okay, a lot of trouble," he amended, "but that's not the point. "In 1905, several young Shadowhunters became_,_ well let's say _overly curious_ about Dark Magic, and so naturally started paying warlocks to help them experiment with it."

"So the Clave found out about it and arrested them?"

"Not before they did some severe damage. Soon they no longer had the funds to support these 'experiments' and had to find another method of procuring magic. And by that I mean they forced several warlock into performing Dark Magic with death threats."

"How though? I've seen only a little of what you can do, and I don't think some barely adults could force you to do anything."

"Those warlocks- and witches- were born of lower demons, those with very little power, and in result their magic isn't as potent as mine. They were enslaved by those shadowhunters, and yet all of them were given the death sentence for using Dark Magic. The shadowhunters themselves were let off with light curses, which were removed after their parents bought the Clave's forgiveness." His jaw was clenched with anger, his eyes almost luminous with hatred and grief. Clearly this was a tragedy to all warlocks of that time.

"I'm sorry, Magnus." The words sounded pathetic, but I hope he understood my meaning.

"It was a long time ago. Almost ended the peace between Shadowhunters and warlocks though. The Clave had to bring laws about use of the magic under duress very quickly, or a war would've started. Willing use of it was dealt with even more severely by even us then, as we didn't want Shadowhunters to become involved with it ever again."

"It failed though if Sebastian is using it, and Ashlin Youngblood wants it to be used on a global scale."

Magnus snorted. "She'll have an army to face if she thinks she's going to decriminalise it. With me at the head of it."

I snickered at the thought of Magnus leading an army. "Yeah, I'll bet your glitter will have her running for the hills."

He smirked at me, waving sparking blue fingers in a mock threat.

I laughed again, but the mirth quickly subsided. "What were the experiments?"

"Oh, the usual. Raising people from the dead, killing, torturing, crafting spells to control people, spells to take magic away from warlocks, to transfer powers from Downworlders to Shadowhunters..."

"It's powerful then."

"You could say that," he replied, pushing back his chair and rising. He walked over to one of the bookshelves, ancient and rustic looking to go with the current theme, and drew a book out. Needle-thin chains, which I presumed had no function other that decorative, were looped over its crumbling, mouldy cover, converging at a tiny, rusty padlock. Truthfully it looked as if Magnus had dug it out of the ground at some archaeological site where it had been buried for hundreds of years.

"What is it?" I asked, wondering what this book that was falling apart was meant to prove.

Ignoring my question, he muttered an incantation under his breath. Then, expressionlessly, he removed a blackened key from its spine and unlocked it. He seemed to take extra care not to touch any of the pages, which were surprising an unmarked white. And by unmarked, I meant there wasn't a single word on them.

"Magnus?" I tried again.

"Get a knife. A sharp one." I stared, disturbed by the emptiness on his face. "_Now, _Alexander."

Warily, I did as he said, crossing to the kitchen and hunting for a knife. I finally was able to find a drawer that contained some form of cutlery rather than assortments of colourful potions. I pulled out the first knife I laid eyes upon.

"Will this do?" I inquired as I rejoined him. "What are you going to do with it?"

Silently, he took the blade from me. What I was not expecting was for him to seize my arm with a strength I'd never realised he'd possessed and slice my arm with it. I cried out, but could do nothing but watch the scarlet drops fall onto the blank pages.

A vile toxic smoke rose and I screamed as my arm burned. The pages rapidly became soaked in my blood, and a spidery yet elegant calligraphy formed. Gasps shuddered from me, frantic, fearful breathing. I could no longer feel any sensation in my arm; it was as if it had ceased to exist. I took one look at it and began to retch. My arm was now shrivelled, drained and the colour of a bruise.

"_What have you done?" _I choked out, barely able to believe one of the people I'd trusted most, someone I'd trusted with my life, had done this to me.

"Alec, listen to me. Everything is fine. This is purely psychological; as soon as you stop believing it's killing you, _that I'm trying to kill you, _ it'll stop."

I glared wide-eyed at him. What he'd done was entirely intentional, he was the one who'd cut me-

"Alec, I love you. I would never betray you like this, you have to know that."

I closed my eyes. I was not dying. Magnus had not just tried to drain me of blood. He _loved _me.

I heard an expansive sigh of relief.

"Thank the Angel," he breathed, and let go of my arm, instead curling his arms around my body. Shivering, I leant into him. The warmth of his body offered me some measure of comfort, and soon I was able to peek through my eyelashes at my arm. A thin white scar ran from my wrist to my elbow, but other than that I was unharmed.

"You could have asked before you attacked me, or at least given me some kind of warning," I said, clearly hearing hurt in my voice.

"That would have defeated the purpose. It had to be a _non-consensual_ blood sacrifice."

"Aren't the Warlock Police going to come and take you away?"

"Would you let them?" I swore he was almost laughing.

"I'm thinking about it," I muttered, although my actions contradicted my words; I clung to him tighter and buried my face into his warm, smooth neck. "But seriously. Didn't you just use Dark Magic?"

"When? I didn't actually use any magic with the sacrifi-

"Before you started-"

"That was to _protect _us. If I hadn't done that, the smoke you seen would have dissolved your skin, or when I cut you it would have drained every drop of blood from you in an instant, leaving you as a dried up shell." The pleasant vibration of his throat did nothing to mask the horror I felt at the potential danger we were in.

"Oh." The word seemed somewhat inept for what I was feeling. If his spell had have failed...

"Exactly, now," he said, gently pushing me away from him, to my consternation, "look."

Magnus passed his hand through the air above the evil spell-book, and the pages moved, showing vivid depictions of the use of Dark Magic.

"Why can't you touch the pages?" I whispered, more to distract myself than anything else.

"Firstly, you never _ever _touch anything contaminated by this kind of magic; it's unlikely that it _won't _have a curse on it. Secondly and more specifically, that smoke was diluted. The concentration in these pages..." He trailed off, but he didn't have to say the words for me to understand.

"Why hasn't the cover disintegrated into nothing then?"

Magnus gave a shiver as he looked down at a scene of brutal torture. "Thousands of spells have been cast on it by some of the most powerful warlocks in existence. And as you can see, the protections have deteriorated now. In a few years I'll have to send it to the Warlock Council so they can redo the spells, a time that will be rather tense for everyone, considering the implications if this book ends up in the wrong hands."

"So you're its, what, _guardian?"_

He nodded gravely. "For the next 159 years, or until my death. Whichever comes first."

A particularly gruesome drawing caught my attention. A figure in a black cloak stood in the background, its hands raised, its face shrouded. Colossal scaly wings protruded from its hunched back. Two children, a boy and a girl, faced their parents. They were being possessed by the warlock, evident from the smaller replicas of his wings, and held their parents' hearts in their hands, squeezing it over their head. Their parents' mouths were open in screams, while the children smiled demoniacally.

Sickened, I cast my eyes anywhere but at the pages, "How could anyone do that?"

"In the beginning they're normal people, but the darkness quickly consumes their soul. After that they are worse than demons; soulless creatures with dangerous amounts of power. That spell," he said, his finger tracing the air above the picture," is for nothing but revenge. To watch a parent see their darling child kill them before their very eyes."

"Does it get worse that that?" How could it get worse?, I thought a second afterwards.

"Progressively. Which is why we're not reading any more," he said, slamming the book shut again, apparently requiring more effort than I would've thought; his hands crackled blue and sweat appeared on his brow. "Wants to tempt us into moral desecration, " he explained darkly.

"Wait. We were only two thirds of the way through it. If at that stage, it was that bad, the last spell-"

"Just glimpsing the spell for a millisecond would kill you, maybe even me. Dark Magic takes every bit of kindness, any selflessness from you. After continuous use, any good qualities you have are gone. And trust me, from the first spell you become hooked; the addiction is unbreakable. Once your soul had been effectively removed, you can withstand much stronger spells. You and I, still containing souls, would not be able to, and if we were lucky we'd simply die. If we were not so fortunate, our souls would be trapped for the next warlock to use as a sacrifice."

_"Why?" _I again questioned.

He knew what I was asking. "We are born of demons, Alec. Every so often the demon nature will be stronger than the humanity."

My head was bursting from the information, but the most important question rose to the forefront of my mind. "How do you stop someone like that?"

"They self-destruct. The Dark Magic begins to poison what's left of them, burning away their mind and body. It's one of the worst deaths anyone can die, as they know its coming, it lasts for months and they know they're damned to Hell."

My eyes re-closed, and shaking, I sank into the nearest sofa, my face in my hands. "The nightmares I have tonight are going to be _absolutely fantastic, _Magnus. Now that I have plenty of material to work with, I may just die of fear in my sleep. So thanks for that."

"And there was me thinking that Shadowhunters slew demons on a daily basis, " he replied sarcastically.

"That was a million times worse."

"I'm sorry. Terrifying you wasn't my intention at all, believe it or not. You just need to know how deadly Dark Magic is. This stuff can make Sebastian like a sweet little kitten. I-dT _cannot_ become a widespread phenomenon. Anything that is fuelled by that magic is evil and wrong."

"How could Ashlin say what she did then? If she knew that?"

"My guess is she's so twisted by hatred that she doesn't care about the consequences."

I dragged my hands down my face, a hollow laugh escaping me. "Its always Shadowhunters, isn't it? No wonder you don't like us. Valentine, Sebastian, Ashlin... We all act so superior, thinking our angel blood gives us supremacy over all other living beings, yet we're the ones who are repeatedly causing wars and instigating violence. We're the definition of hypocrisy."

I saw Magnus shrug through my fingers. "Like any other species, there are extremes. Yes there are Shadowhunters like Sebastian, but there are also those like you and Jace, Will and Jem. Werewolves, vampires, faeries; the differences are only physical. Even mundanes have Hitler."

"You include Jace in the 'good Shadowhunters' bracket now?" I said, raising my face to grin at him.

"I admit my prejudice against Jace is mostly down to jealousy, although never will you hear me say _that_ in front of _him."_

"Jealousy? Jace is my parabatai and brother, who I am definitely not in love with."

"How would you like it if I lived with someone that I was once in love with? If I spent a huge proportion of my time with them? One of your biggest faults, Alexander, is that you refuse to see a situation from anyone else's point of view."

"Faults? Well, make sure you kept your receipt so that you can return me," I snapped. I was overreacting, and yet inexplicably I felt a sharp resentment towards him. Perhaps it was my insecurity, feeling like I was a toy that could be easily tossed away when he grew tired of me. Perhaps it was the exhaustion of this roller-coaster day; I just wished I could stop for a while, or even slow down so it didn't feel like everything was spinning dizzyingly out of control. There was always the worry that the track would break, or the cart would fly off the rails looming in the back of my mind.

"That was uncalled for Alec. I merely was saying that perhaps you should consider life in another person's shoes, that's all."

"Like you would even let me near your shoes. You'd be too afraid I would damage them," I returned defiantly.

"Now you're just being ridiculous. And may I say, sarcasm suits Jace far better than it does you." He rose, turning only say," I'm tired, so I'm going to bed. You can join me when you stop being so sulky and melodramatic." He then sauntered towards his bedroom, shutting the door behind him quietly with a click of his fingers.

At first I was determined to stay out in the sitting room all night, but soon loneliness set in. It seemed that when Magnus left he had taken all the warmth and the light with him. Really my stubbornness was just petty, I reasoned, and therefore there was no good argument for staying out here. But that was another thing Shadowhunters were; proud. To accept I was wrong would mean I'd have to let go of that pride in favour of humility. If I refused to let it go I'd just prove the stereotypes to be true.

So I decided to do the smartest thing; I went to the bedroom door and knocked softly on it, figuring asking permission would induce a pleasanter response from him.

"Come in, Alec," came an exasperated voice.

I did as he said, and felt his eyes rove over my face as I entered.

"Am I forgiven then?" I asked shyly, daring to look up at the warlock. Then startled, a new question rose to my lips, "Why are you painting your nails at this time?"

Magnus was sprawled carelessly across the bright yellow comforter, admiring his hands at my question. "I suddenly realised that midnight blue with gold glitter is a colour so much more pleasing to the eye than that turquoise colour." At my blank look he shrugged and added," I also needed something to do while you swallowed your pride." He watched me closely after this comment, predicting, I would bet, that it would incite more childish anger from me.

"You didn't answer my first question," I reminded him, still hovering uncertainly by the door. It was difficult to continue being the self-righteous Shadowhunter when I was in what I saw as his territory.

"Come here," he said imperiously, still relaxed, although his eyes were two pillars of verdant fire. Truth be told, I wasn't sure whether that fire would lash out and burn me.

Reluctantly, I acquiesced though, moving until I was sat on the edge of his bed. We didn't break eye-contact once, and so the intensity built up to unbearable levels. I was the first to look away, my face flushed, my hands restlessly picking at the comforter.

"You still have trust issues," he stated flatly. "Even after I've forgiven you for thinking about _shortening my lifespan, _you still continue to judge me in a way that is completely unfair. Have I ever treated you like you were something unimportant? Ever regarded you with anything less than respect and adoration?" The answer was evident in my shame. "Maybe you're just going to continue to insult me and accuse me. Maybe I made a mistake in taking you back."

My eyes flashed up to his in shock. At the storminess I saw there tears welled. _Not again, _I pleaded voicelessly, _Please, not again._

"Earlier tonight you thought I was going to kill you."

Self-hatred boiled inside of me. Did I really have to screw up every chance of happiness I had?

"I'll go" I whispered. "I'll leave now. I'm sorry, so sorry. For everything. "My voice cracked, splintering into a million pieces, the perfect reflection of my glass heart.

He made an impatient sound. "I didn't say I wanted you to leave. I just want you to have a little faith in me."

The arms I'd been leaning on were abruptly swept out beneath me, causing me to collapse onto the bed beside him. I didn't have to time to think before he rolled on top of me, straddling me.

Leaning in to nuzzle my neck, he murmured, "And yes, you are forgiven. But try not to do it again. After all, we have to learn from our mistakes, and I've had a lot longer to make them than you."

"I wish I did have some of your experience. Then I wouldn't keep making so many stupid mistakes, and maybe I would be good enough for you."

"Who ever said you couldn't be as charming as Jace?" he said with a low laugh, his kisses moving to my cheek. "Anyway, if you didn't make mistakes, I wouldn't be able to see those huge blue eyes begging for absolution"

A moment later he claimed my mouth, and everything else just fell away. All I could focus on was the searing heat of his lips against mine, the touch of his tongue, his hands beneath my shirt, stroking over my skin reverently, hungrily.

Helplessly, I moaned and arched against him, wanting to feel every inch of his body against my own. Right now, I didn't give a damn if I ran out of oxygen; I could asphyxiate rapturously, ecstasy erasing any other needs.

Even as Magnus pulled away briefly to laugh breathlessly at my near intoxicated state of desire, I felt a peace descend on me that I hadn't felt, well_, ever_, I guess. It was the feeling of knowing you'd met someone you'd die for, and dare I say, someone who was your true love, your soul-mate. No matter what scepticisms I may have on that subject, I knew this was special, something that was once-in-a-lifetime. Which meant I had to work harder to keep it; to keep Magnus in my life.

The feeling of serenity lingered as hands frantically tore at clothes, trailing over newly exposed skin. We melded together, two entities separated by species, age and ideals, into a trembling molten coil of love and lust.

Later that night, still surrounded by my naked, sleeping boyfriend, feeling every slow breath he took, I finally understood. Faith wasn't about knowing everything about the person you love. No, it was down to a blind yet resolute trust that they cherished and protected you. That they would trust you. That their love for you was the eternal, undying kind.

**Yes, this took longer than it should have. BUT, just to let you know, I did try my absolute hardest for this chapter; as in, I poured my heart into making this as good as possible. Feedback would convince me my efforts are not in vain, and that's not to say I don't want criticism- I recognise that I still have a lot of improving to do.**

**Thank you if you have read to this stage, especially to those who have made repeat reviews; I really appreciate it guys. **

**BlackHeartedTigress xoxoxox.**


	14. Cryptic and Implosion

**So it's been another month. Or two. I don't even have exams to blame this time... Well, here's the next chapter, so enjoy and take into account I'm working towards my AS-levels now (I don't know what that translates into in America. I'm 16, 17 soon, if that helps.), so although I will try my best to have updates out more regularly, don't shout at me if I don't- one of my teachers basically said this would be the worst year of my life. Encouraging.**

**Help me get to 70 reviews, please?**

14- Cryptic/ Implosion 

(implosion= to collapse inwards)

_Heaven's warriors,_

_My allegiance is not with you unless you can prove yourselves worthy of it. I expect Jonathan Morgenstern to win the war, an expectation that will doubtless remained unchanged right through to the finale._

_Although my court are not your allies, I will, rather generously, offer you advice. Heaven's fire is removed in only perfect equilibrium. Shadow dimensions form within their counterparts. The key is therefore obvious, and with this assistance, you may win the war yet,_

_Heaven's beauty and Hell's wrath._

Jace's POV

"Oh, I do love a good riddle," I said through gritted teeth. Until I got Clary back, I would not be able to think straight, and coded messages from the Seelie Queen weren't improving my already fraying temper.

"I'm only reading out what's on the paper," Simon muttered. Clearly he felt the same way I did. Which irritated me even more.

Isabelle threw her hands up in the air. "So we've got nowhere in solving anything. You two lost Clary and we have no idea of how to remove Jace's fire."

I glared at Isabelle in disbelief. "Yes, because we went to Prague to _deliver _Clary to Sebastian. Did Simon forget to tell you that part?"

"Well, maybe you should have paid a bit more attention to what was going on around you! Maybe then you would've noticed the demon boy practically standing on your head!"

Nervous glances were cast at us from around Taki's, the restaurant we were sitting in, and Kaelie hovered nearby, unsure of whether to interrupt a fight between two Shadowhunters and a vampire. I was past feeling sympathy for anyone though. "_DID YOU SEE SEBASTIAN WHEN HE KILLED MAX IN THE SAME ROOM AS YOU? DID YOU _STOP_ HIM?" _I slammed my fist on the table, causing a fissure to open. Several Downworlders made a quick departure. Everyone else openly stared.

Izzy simply looked at me with a stunned look. Simon's head was in his hands. She then stood up and left, her face devoid of emotion. But I heard the crying start before the door closed behind her.

"All you've accomplished now is sending Iz back to her guilt stage. Well done for that, by the way, it was quite the speech."

"She'll get over it," I said dismissively. Right now Isabelle's overreactions were not at the forefront of my mind.

"Yeah, right. Are you and Alec even talking any more?"

I glared at him; what did that have to do with the vampire?

"I thought so. Are you going to keep pushing people away until there's no-one left by your side? 'Cause that's not how you win a war, you know."

"The only wars you know about winning are one's on video games," I mumbled, rather than acknowledge the truth.

Simon rolled his eyes. He'd fought in more wars than I had now. "Well, what do you make of the faerie queen's letter?"

"I think she's trying to wind us up. Or leading us into creating the destruction of the universe for Sebastian."

"I don't think so," Simon said with a frown. "She says she's allied herself with Sebastian, but I think this is her way of leaving her options open. If Sebastian falls through, then she can fall

back on the fact she's helped us."

"Becoming a master of politics, vampire?" I asked. "Looks like you're getting ready to join your bloodsucking brethren. Soon you'll be telling us all our social standards are far too low and that we need lessons in etiquette."

"Clary is right. The more desperate you become, the more sarcasm you use. It's kind of pathetic when you realise it's so obvious."

I glowered at the cracked table; I hated how Simon was able to brush off my sardonic words so easily, how he seemed so unaffected by it.

"Well, since this is accomplishing nothing, I'm going to go see my sister. We haven't spoken in a few weeks, and I think she should know that the world's falling apart."

He got up and departed, leaving me to my own misery. _That's just how you wanted it, _I reminded myself. The untruth of the statement rang hollowly in my mind.

12345678912345678903245678909324567890345678923545 67890234656789012345678900000

Clary's POV

I carefully monitored his expression as he entered the room. Incredulous shock transformed to anger, then for a split second I thought I saw a glimmer of greed, before his expression became closed off and impassive.

"I see you've redecorated," Sebastian said, nothing other than mild amusement in his voice.

"Aren't you going to lock me up and torture me? Interrogate me on how I set the room on fire?"

"As interesting as those ideas are, we have more important things to do today." He sauntered towards me, evaluating with his eyes like black-holes.

"We? You've got to be kidding if you think I'll help you do anything."

He regarded me silently for a few moments. "Don't force me to make you comply. It will be unpleasant for both you and your friends, I promise you that."

I shivered. This was the boy who'd killed an innocent child; he wouldn't hesitate to slaughter people I loved ruthlessly. "Fine. What do you want?"

He smiled. "Dear Clarissa, you are so beautiful. I don't see why you insist on wearing such unappealing clothing."

"You want me to play dress-up with you? Sorry, _brother,_ but now is not really the time to catch up on missed childhood experiences." I made my voice as patronising as possible, refusing to be submissive despite my acquiescence to 'help' him.

"You will change into one of the dresses in the cupboard, then you will meet me downstairs, where we will discuss my agenda for the coming months. Understand?"

Every instinct inside of me told me to rebel against him, to defy his politely spoken words. "I understand."

"Good. Your cooperation is a wise choice, dear sister." His smile turned beatific before disappearing from sight.

The door clicked close, leaving me by myself again. A low groan escaped my throat at the thought of my situation. I knew I'd have to go through hell before I'd defeat Sebastian; I will lose people I love, and I will be scarred inside and out at the end. But I The one thing that still puzzled me was his lack of reaction at my burnt out room; did it not concern him I'd called up Heavenly Fire without even a stele to aid me?

2134567890123456789023456789012345678901234567890

I walked calmly downstairs in the most modest dress I could find, a backless violet gown that fell musically to my knees. It must have been my mom's like the clothes at the other dimension-travelling house; it fit perfectly. Sebastian had told me the way to 'show me he would like to trust me', but I sensed the lock wasn't coming off my room any time soon. A girl sat beside Sebastian, chattering at him while he looked on, ignoring her. Her blond hair was straightened, her clothes short and tight. She was trying to impress him. It wasn't working.

I deliberately let my foot fall heavily onto the floor, attracting their attention. I scrutinised Sebastian's expression as he saw me. His eyes grew more animated, his mouth softer. It seemed there was some kind of attachment to me within him, unfortunately it was sickening and definitely not brotherly; his eyes skimmed my short, pale legs, moving up my figure slowly until he reached my eyes.

"Who's this?" The girl asked shrilly.

"Clarissa, this is Sarah. She is my advisor for all things related to the Clave." I stared at him. Advisor? I was pretty sure the only advice he took was his own, but perhaps it was advantageous for him right now to appease her. I waited for him to tell Sarah who I was, and clearly she was too, but he said nothing.

"I'm Clary, Sebastian's... sister, " I said reluctantly, wanting to deny any connection to him.

"Nice to meet you Clary," she fluttered. "I have to say, I can see the resemblance between the two of you." The absolute last thing I wanted to hear. "I wonder why, though, you still insist on calling him that, honey. His name is Jonathan."

"He'll always be Sebastian to me," I replied flatly. She gave me a startled look, but then giggled awkwardly, as if this whole situation was delightfully benign.

"So we're discussing your plans?" I addressed my brother now, figuring I'd at least get more sense from him.

"In the short-term, yes." He crossed his ankles and laid back, relaxed. "You may as well take a seat, Clarissa. What I'm about to tell you is very important."

I complied, sitting opposite him in a curved, black plastic chair. It was built to look good rather than to be comfortable.

"Sarah, why don't you tell Clary exactly who you are, as regards to the Clave?"

She sat up straighter. "I am Sarah Highgate. I am part of the council, but more importantly, a trusted friend of the Penhallows, and as you know, Jia Penhallow is the current Consul. Which ultimately means I have influence over the entire Clave, and therefore over all Shadowhunters and Downworlders."

"What are you going to do to the Clave?" I asked, trepidation mounting inside my heart.

"I'm going to infiltrate it," Sebastian took over. "Everything I've tried before has somehow been sabotaged by the Clave. They have numbers, and are willing to join with Downworld, which makes them a formidable opponent. But if I break them down from the inside, there will be no united mass to oppose me. They'll all fall apart once they realise they're leaderless and unable to trust anyone for fear they're working for me."

"The Clave may have been corrupted by Valentine and you, but there are still good people there. People who'd rather lay down their lives than side with you, "I said bitingly. "Jia will never allow your slaves to be anywhere near her Council, and sooner or later Sarah here will expose herself for what she really is. A worthless traitor."

Sarah gaped at my words. She expected me to be a betrayer like her.

"Thank you for that Clary, " Sebastian murmured. "You see, this is why I need you; to help me find weakness in my plans, so that I can overcome them. Although I have already thought about that one, but please do go on."

"You're going to kill her," I whispered.

"Probably. But my main aim is to remove her from power, and replace her with Sarah here." He gestured towards his puppet.

"People will notice." I said, knowing my last hope was about to be destroyed.

"Jia will _choose _resign due to family reasons. And I will make sure Sarah Highgate is the _perfect_ candidate for the new opening."

Sarah giggled again, bubbly with a vicious edge, and my stomach wrenched with dread, and bile coated my mouth. I needed to get a message through to Jace or Simon or anyone who was on my side. Before Sebastian's plans were too far in motion.

**If you like this, check out my new (ish) fic, _Accounts of an Invisible Bystander_, a fic in which Downworlders rule supreme and Shadowhunters are the outcasts.**

**BlackHeartedTigress xo. **


	15. Lightwood Intelligence

**Only 1 review for the last chapter... :'(**

**Will someone find it in their heart to give me some inspiration?- I'm feeling really sad at the lack of response. I'm really sorry if my writing's not good enough for you.**

Chapter 15- Lightwood Intelligence

Intelligence: _quality of being intelligent. _**Secret government or military information.**

_"Jia will choose resign due to family reasons. And I will make sure Sarah Highgate is the perfect candidate for the new opening."_

_Sarah giggled again, bubbly with a vicious edge_,_ and my stomach wrenched with dread, and bile coated my mouth. I needed to get a message through to Jace or Simon or anyone who was on my side. Before Sebastian's plans were too far in motion._

Clary's POV

"May I return to my room?" I asked Sebastian, an undercurrent of venom in my voice.

He considered my question for a few moments, mocking me. "No. We don't have time to take things slowly this time. We must act now."

"Right now?"

He shot me an annoyed look. "Is there anything more important you need to be doing?"

"Save the world from you, kill you, brush my hair... Really, there is quite an extensive list." I knew I was pushing him now.

"Blindfold her, Sarah."

The young woman looked uneasily at me, which was to be expected, due to the pure hostility radiating from me. She pulled a black ribbon from her pocket, and proceeded towards me slowly.

"Now, Clary," she said in a coaxing voice. "There's no need to fight. I'm not going to hurt you, I just need to slip this over your eyes. Okay, sweetheart?"

I stood up and took a defensive stance, ready to fight her. I was _not _wearing that. I needed to be able to get out of this place. She didn't seem to believe in my determination, as she continued advancing until she was right in front of me. My mind flashed back to my training:

_Alec leant against the wall of the training room, while I stood in the centre. I watched him calmly, prepared for anything by now. Slowly, he pushed off, and walked towards me, saying nothing at all. When he was halfway between me and the wall, I charged. A moment later I was on the floor._

_"Rule six: when someone moves towards you, let them come. That way you can predict what they'll do, and be ready for their attack."_

_Over and over we practised, until I pinned the taller, stronger Shadowhunter down with ease._

_"Good work, Clary," he said enthusiastically when I allowed him to stand again. "Always remember, your height and weight can be used to your advantage if you have the right technique."_

I would bet Alec was a much more talented Shadowhunter than Sarah; how could he not be with training with Jace for 7 years? Jace had the ability of the Angel himself, moving at unnatural speed and fighting with an inhuman grace.

Sarah reached out towards me, so I quickly kicked her legs out from beneath her. She landed hard, and I heard her hiss with pain. Perfect. Unsteadily, she rose to her feet again. I didn't wait for her to try again; seizing her arm, I twisted her round so her back was to me and dipped my hand into her pocket. I grinned when I felt the familiar weight of a stele in my hand. It was the only weapon I'd ever needed.

"Honestly, Sarah. I really did think blindfolding a small, sixteen year old girl wasn't that much of a task."

"You didn't tell me she was a fully trained Shadowhunter!" Sarah protested.

"She's not," Sebastian said slowly. "She may have had a reasonable physical training, but if she knew the runes from the Gray Book, I'd say she wouldn't be here. If she knew how to wield her own ability, she wouldn't be here."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm not wearing that thing."

"Put your own blindfold on Clary," Sebastian said as if he hadn't heard me," And then we can leave."

A dark and dangerous look in his eyes made me push Sarah away from me and snatch the ribbon from her. I carefully tied it in a knot around my head.

"Stele," he demanded, and I dropped it. A feeling of emptiness rose when it left my hand; it was like losing a treasured friend.

"Take my hand," he murmured. Seeing as a loss of dignity would occur either way, through having to be obedient to him or risk falling over everything in my path, I chose to take his cool hand in my own, touching him as little as I possibly could. I walked forwards into darkness.

And met a barrier, feeling like wet, loose skin. I cried out and automatically stumbled backwards into Sebastian. He caught me and prevented me from moving any further.

"Just walk through it," he encouraged, pushing me forward gently.

I stretched out a hand, touching the barrier again. It was revolting beneath my fingertips, but the images my mind conjured up were worse. Was this actual skin, butchered from a corpse? I shuddered.

"What is it?" I demanded.

"The doorway between dimensions. Like a Portal, except more substantial."

_Don't be a coward. _I thought, and walked into the dimensional barrier. At first it congealed around me, and I felt as if I was suffocating, but soon it lost all corporeality. As if it had suddenly dissolved.

Was I on the other side yet? In Idris, which is where I presumed we were going? A tingling began at my toes, slowly becoming stronger and stronger. Soon it was painful and spreading. I could feel it in my ankles, my knees, my arms, my chest, my wrists, my head. It felt like hooks had been implanted in all these separates parts and were starting to pull me apart. Scream after scream left my mouth, until I lost consciousness.

**12345678912345678903245678909324567890345678923545 67890234656789012345678900000**

My body was in pieces. My head was lying next to four of my fingers, my lungs a table for my feet. Blood must have washed everything in a scarlet deluge, as my body parts were stained red. It seemed consciousness was the only part of me that had stayed intact.

_"Clary."_

Jace. I sighed. At least I knew my memories intact too.

_"Clary." Yes, yes, _I thought towards Jace, _but it's not as if I can reply. My lips are lying over there in the midst of my small intestine, as I'm sure you can see as well as I can._

A small, stinging pain went through me. What part of me could not guess, though, looking at the various organs around me. Where was my skin? I felt nauseous as I realized it had been used for the next person who walks through that inter-dimensional door.

_"Oh, for the Angel's sake."_

_Isabelle?,_ I wondered at the feminine voice, and I was abruptly immersed in ice water. Gasping, I tried to pull away from it, but it surrounded me. Every part of me. I struggled to take in enough air as my body went into shock.

My eyes opened. I marvelled at the way my body was seamlessly attached. How have I not seen what a fantastic piece of architecture the human body is before? I mean, look at how my arm lifted as soon as I even thought about moving it, how I could feel sensation all over my skin, how I could inhale _scents-_

"Are you quite done?" Sebastian questioned.

"My body is amazing," I said, barely noticing him.

"Finally something we agree on," he said with a low, predatory laugh that sent shivers through my entire being. "Do you recognise our surroundings, though, sister?"

I shook off my stupor. "We're in Idris. Just outside of Alicante." More precisely, I was lying in the grass outside of Alicante while Sebastian crouched beside me.

"Exactly. Now, tell me how we're going to get you into Alicante without anyone seeing Clarissa Morgenstern?"

"_Fairchild. _Through disguise, of course."

"What disguise?"

"I'll assume the identity of another Shadowhunter."

"Can you do that?" he asked, sceptical at the extent to which my powers could reach. Telling me how powerful I am one moment, doubting me the next.

Instead of answering, I removed his stele from his weapon's belt, and thought, _Perfect disguise. _The rune flashed within reach, and I etched it into my skin without a second thought. It was a rune with curves on the outside and sharp angles on the inside; _Pathological Liar _would have been an equally good name for it.

Sarah, who was on my other side, gaped. Evidently she had never seen any of my previous creations.

"She's become Verity Goldwater. The girl whose been allegedly missing for the past few months."

_Verity Goldwater. Aged 33. Profession; Downworld Affairs Manager. Missing for three months, presumed dead. No living relatives. No friends. Searches for her lasted less than a day._

The information streamed into my head. It really was an infallible disguise. She was completely cut off from society, meaning it would be easy to take her place.

Sebastian cleared his throat. "You'll have to disguise me too."

"You can do the rune yourself."

He refused to take his stele. "I'd much rather you did it."

Impatiently, I scribbled it onto his arm, cutting as deep as possible, hoping to cause some sort of pain. His face morphed. Black eyes were now green, white hair was now black.

"Lincoln Nightwine." Sarah whispered.

"Good, one of my own servants, "Sebastian said, pleased. "Sarah, you'll have to go first; can't risk being seen with two people presumed dead."

"Fine. You've got a back story?" she inquired.

"We ran away. Verity didn't want to ruin the Nightwine reputation due to her low position in society, yet Lincoln's love was strong enough for him to flee Alicante with her."

"Cute," she said with a smile, and began strolling down the hill toward the City of Glass.

"Well, Verity, my love, the time has come for our adoration for each other to come into the public spotlight. Will you stand by my side as surely as I will stand by yours?"

"Do I have any choice?"

"No. The fates have already decided this is our destiny. We can't turn back now."

I glared at him. Was he seriously going to keep this up the entire time?

"A kiss for good luck?" he asked.

"If you try to kiss me, I will bite you," I said viciously, enunciating each word.

"How fickle you are," he replied with a dramatic sigh. "Shall we proceed to our home town, dear Verity?"

I began stalking the same direction Sarah had, but Sebastian's hand stopped me.

"This way, Clary," he said, gesturing in the other direction. "We can't afford to look suspicious. And for Lilith's sake don't act like you hate me in front of the guards."

"I would never do anything for _Lilith's _sake," I snapped. But I conceded his point; I would soon need to convince the Clave I was in love with Lincoln Nightwine.

Sebastian gave me a look of appraisal. "My mission is now your mission. So in fact it is for Lilith, and all her hellish sons and daughters you do this for, regardless of the threats hanging over your head."

I wondered if he knew he just referred to himself as hellish. One more thing we agree on.

**12345678912345678903245678909324567890345678923545 67890234656789012345678900000**

Jonathan's POV

We approached the gate hand in hand. Clary did not make any other attempt at affection, which grated on my nerves. I wanted her to touch me like I belonged to her, like she felt the same fierce possessiveness I did.

The guard looked up. And blanched. "Miss Goldwater."

"I prefer to be called Mrs. Nightwine now. It's official in everything but ceremony." Her voice was scornful. Perhaps she was a better actress than she let on.

"Mrs. Nightwine," the guard amended. "And Mr. Nightwine. May I see identification?"

I froze. We would have to kill him now.

"Right here," Clary replied, handing him a blank piece of paper, a light rune traced onto the back. "Will that suffice?"

"Indeed, ma'am and sir. Enjoy your time in our glorious Alicante."

Clary sniffed and brushed past him, muttering, "Why anyone should need identification to get into their own city is beyond me. I bet not even Downworlders are talked to so officiously..."

I sent a feigned apologetic look to the guard, who smiled as if to say, _how can you possibly stand married life with that woman?_

And I was back in Alicante. The city I'd plagued with demons. The city I'd killed the youngest Lightwood brother in, as well as the Lightwood siblings' mentor, Starkweather. What a beautiful place. It was untouched by the filthy hands of mundanes; no cars coughing out foul fumes, no factories creating vile smog and no children addicted to tiny glowing devices. I could see why this place was home for Shadowhunters.

"Where are we going?" Clary said in low voice, not wanting to be heard by any curious Nephilim or Downworlders.

"Towards the Gard." I didn't have to say anything else, although I didn't think Clary was aware of how far I'd invaded the Clave through Sarah already. I knew when each meeting was, I knew every procedure and how new laws were brought about. I knew every person who was part of the Clave, and intimate details of every person in a position of power.

We passed through the cobblestone streets quickly, wanting to reach our destination in good time. The building rose up in front of us, newly repaired from when it had nearly burnt to the ground.

"Here we are," I announced. "The centre of the Clave."

Clary's POV

I looked at the building that I had only seen by firelight before. (Cassandra Clare, City of Glass, p. 75, _A high wall rose in front of them, set with a pair of enormous gates. The gates were carved with the swirling, angular pattern of runes, and though Simon couldn't read them as well as Clary could, there was something dazzling in their complexity and the sense of power that emanated from them. The gates were guarded by stone angel statues on either side, their faces fierce and beautiful. Each held a carved sword in its hand, and a writing creature- a mixture of rat, bat, and lizard, with nasty pointed teeth- lay dying at its feet.)_

I stumbled into someone, and quickly mumbled an apology.

"Verity? Verity Goldwater?" My head snapped up at the familiar voice. Maryse Lightwood. This was my chance to get a message through. To explain I was in a disguise, and here under duress.

"Mrs. Lightwood," I replied, looking straight into her blue eyes.

"You've never called me that before, Verity, so there's no need to start now," Maryse said with a frown.

How did Maryse know Verity?

"How are Alexander and Isabelle?" I asked, hoping I could both keep up the pretence that Sebastian wanted and tell her what I knew.

Maryse started. "They're... they're doing well." Her ice blue eyes were darkening rapidly. She knew something was wrong. "I didn't realise you knew I had a daughter. The last time we spoke Alexander was only 18 months."

"Your children are notorious, Maryse. Even I, away from the Shadowhunter life for so long, know of them."

Her eyes narrowed. And passed beyond me to Sebastian. They flickered uneasily.

"So Verity, how did you meet Lincoln?" There was a subtle deliberateness to the question. She knew.

"Maybe a year back. Around the time of the Mortal War." I replied.

Sebastian's hand tightened over mine like a vice.

"Interesting." She stated, her suspicions confirmed. "What are you doing here now?"

This was going to have to be perfect. If Sebastian picked up on the hidden message, I was screwed, if Maryse didn't, I was also screwed. "Well, after meeting Link, we decided I couldn't stay in hiding any longer. You remember how controlling the Clave used to be? How if you were in a certain place in the hierarchy, you could never move up or down? Well, I've heard things have changed. A complete attitude rewrite. Of course Jia must have been responsible for the demise of such inescapable boundaries. I was so happy when I found out she'd replaced Malachi Dieudonné. So I returned here with my new found love and thought I would start a new life."

_Link (Sebastian). Controlling. Clave. Jia. Demise. Replaced._

"As you should have," Maryse said with a generous smile. I could feel Sebastian getting impatient. I needed to get the rest of the message through.

"I was thinking that maybe Jia would see more of my abilities, and perhaps promote me to Highest Downworld Correspondence. You know, the person who controls the relations between Downworld and the Nephilim. Especially now that all the peace talks have happened. So many new doors would be open to me after that; I could even become the President of The Accords, which you know-"

"That's enough Verity. We can't stand around talking all day. If you'll excuse us, Maryse, we have to get up to the Gard."

_HIGHest. Door- GATE._

"Of course. Good luck and stay ambitious, Verity." The woman showed no outer signs that she'd received my message.

"Goodbye, Maryse. Perhaps I'll visit your home in New York sometime. I'd love to see Alexander again."

"And meet Isabelle and Jace," Maryse added.

"Yes," I said quietly, and she walked away into the crowds of people.

**Yes, Clary is a genius who can think up a hidden code in a matter of seconds. She's just that awesome. Speaking of awesome, you just got a chapter in under a month. Now **_that _**is something.**

**Also, thank you to my beta of the last few chapters, corndoggies13, and my beta for this chapter, Talking like a Lion.**


	16. Raziel's gift

**Thank you guys so much for the reviews to support me. And you know what happened? I got to work on finishing chapter 16 instantly.**

**Don't let me down for this chapter- if you can give me _15 reviews_ for a non-chapter, surely I can have at least that for something I've actually worked to write?**

Chapter 16- Raziel's gift.

Jia Penhallow's POV

The witchlight threw harsh light and left dark shadows in the corridor I walked along. Usually I would be squinting into the darker areas, trying not to trip over my own feet, as of course no respectable Consul would fall on a flat surface, or a rocky one, for that matter. Now, all I could think of was Jonathan Morgenstern. How I could stop him. How I could rally the Clave against him. How to _find _him. It always felt like he was so far away, and the only time he moved within reach was when he struck out at us.

Footfalls raced behind me, and I whirled round, seraph blade in hand. No one walked without one these days, even within the Clave walls. I relaxed as I saw the familiar face.

"Consul Penhallow," the woman said softly, bowing her head slightly in respect.

"Miss Highgate," I replied, keeping to formalities. "When did you return?"

"Just today, Consul. I came here to report to you as soon as I arrived." She paused, and looked around. "May we go to your study to speak, Consul? I have a matter of utmost urgency to inform you about."

"Certainly," I said, and led the way to my quarters. I almost hesitated before the oak doors that led to the Consul's Chambers, an instinct born of years of warnings never to enter. I never would have thought years ago, when I lived in the Beijing Institute that I would preside over the entire Clave. It was something distant, something I yearned for but never thought would actually come true. I'd thought Dieudonné would remain Consul until he neared his deathbed. However, it seemed lately every time I made an assumption, it would turn out to be false.

With confidence expected of the Consul, I pushed open the door and strode towards the study. I turned towards Sarah as she entered behind me.

"Jia, last night, as I was patrolling Berlin as you instructed, I came across one of Morgenstern's Demonic Hunters. The ones turned by Lilith's blood in the Demonic Cup. On him he carried a weapon, one crafted in the blacksmith of Hell. It was like blackened glass; sooty and burnt-looking, melted into odd shapes at parts. Anyway, a team of Shadowhunters and I were able to bring the man here, to where he can be interrogated. We could finally find something out about Morgenstern."

"We need an Inquisitor though," I murmured, contemplating the options in my mind.

"Perhaps Helen Blackthorn or Aislinn Darkswan..."

The mention of Helen sent my mind into another spiral of thoughts. My.. my daughter's girlfriend. The words seemed so bizarre, and yet familiar now. I didn't disapprove of Aline's relationship; I just wished that she would have an easier path in life. She would face discrimination from the elder members of the Clave, so sure in their archaic beliefs, and she would face the jeering and mockery from her own peers. Yet somehow, obscurely perhaps, I felt proud of her. Proud that she could be herself. Proud that she was helping revolutionize the Nephilim world. And I did like Helen Blackthorn; she had a sharp wit to her and as down-to-earth as could be. I could also see the physical beauty that my daughter loved as well in her long white-blond hair and deep-forest green eyes.

I remembered the first moment that homosexuality was ever seen publicly within the Shadowhunter community. When Alexander Lightwood kissed his warlock lover, Magnus Bane, I felt my heart leap into my mouth. It meant new possibilities for Aline and hope that the younger generation could accept her. A fierce rush of affection had coursed through me for the eldest Lightwood, for daring to be outspoken, for daring to love as he pleased.

"Jia?" Sarah prompted softly.

I could not make Helen Inquisitor. She was too young to have such an oppressive role; I wanted her and Aline to celebrate being in love without huge responsibilities being forced upon either of them.

I raised my eyes to the young woman before me. Here was a competent person, who'd already gathered so much information about Jonathan. A woman who was a natural leader and could cope with difficult situations. She was perfect.

"Sarah.." I started slowly.

"Yes?" She asked, and I heard an eager tone. Well, good for her that she was enthusiastic.

"How would you feel about becoming Inquisitor?"

She was quiet for a moment, no doubt organizing her thoughts and reining in her excitement. "I would consider it a great honour to become your Inquisitor. Not only is it a mark of our great friendship, it is a testament to your faith in me. I will treat my role with the highest respect, and I promise you now, Jia, I _will _find solutions to the problems you have."

I smiled sadly at her. "You are aware of how laden with anxiety I am?"

"I am. But we will win this fight against Jonathan Morgenstern, we will gain _our right _to freedom from his terrorist tendencies, I swear it on the Angel Raziel."

"Thank you, Sarah." I stepped forward to embrace my young friend and colleague. "I would almost think you were sent by Raziel himself."

**11112345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567 89023456789**

Alec's POV

Bzzz... Bzzzz...

Bzzzz... Bzzz...

What the hell was that noise? I stared through the semi-darkness of early morning, trying to locate the source of the irritating sound. My jeans. Which meant my phone of course. Sighing, I quietly clambered out of the warm bed and into the frigid morning air. When I pulled my phone out of my pocket and opened it, I saw I had 9 missed calls and 4 texts.

2.00 am: _We need to talk._

2.02 am: _Are you at Magnus'?_

2.31 am: _I'm getting the silent treatment now, am I?_

4.45 am: _Please, Alec. I'm sorry for what I said. _

I groaned, before pressing the call button.

"_Alec-_"

"Can you actually name a single person who answers their phone at two in the morning?"

Silence for a beat. "Admittedly no, but-"

"Took you long enough to get to the apology part, too."

"No need to rub it in or anything."

I waited.

"Do you want to actually hear me say sorry?"

"Yes."

" Then I apologize most profusely for my scathing and contemptuous words. I ask of you, no I beg of you, Alexander Lightwood, my friend, my brother, my parabatai, to offer the sweet mercy of forgiveness to my undeserving self."

I laughed; Jace certainly had a way with words. "You're forgiven. But only to stop you spouting that nonsense."

"It isn't nonsense."

"The majority was. And the slightly sarcastic tone didn't help much."

"Sarcastic? I'll have you know I said those words with the utmost sincerity, and now I'm offended to think that you-"

"What did you want to talk about?" I interrupted, not really in the mood for his conversational tangents at this time in the morning.

Jace quickly became serious. "Did you find anything last night? Apart from the intoxicating high of-"

I cut him off again, sure that his words were an innuendo. "Id-t is only possible by dark magic. Which means he has a warlock working for him."

"Caterina Loss. It's her. But he's forcing her by some sort of threat; her face was covered in guilt."

"Caterina Loss?" The name seemed somewhat familiar. Something to do with Peru and charangoes and llamas. And a green man.

"Does Magnus know-?"

"Give me the phone." A voice behind me ordered, and the phone slipped from my hand in shock. Luckily it froze in mid-air before it hit the ground. Magnus shot a look at me as he took it, his face clearly saying, "_some demon-hunter you are"._

"Alec?"

"No. What were you saying about Caterina?"

"She's working for Sebastian. He's coercing her to, though."

"I know that." Magnus snapped. His eyes were dilated and upset; Caterina was more than just an acquaintance.

"We lost Clary."

"I know that too." I stared at Magnus, trying to catch his eyes. He refused to meet mine though.

"How could you possibly know that? I haven't told Alec."

"I knew from the moment three of you left that only two would return. Jonathan was expecting you."

"Why didn't you say something?" Jace's voice was deadly.

"Clary is our last hope. No, shut up Jace. Who saved you from being bonded to Jonathan? Who saved the lives of hundreds of Shadowhunters aboard Valentine's ship? Who killed a Ravener before she even knew she was a shadowhunter? Clary is exceptional, and she needs to be close to her brother to kill him. We can do more from here to help her than being with her."

"Clary may be a miracle, but she's still only sixteen. She's not even an adult yet."

"And neither are you. Besides, age is not a factor. She has the intelligence and the strength. She will save the world, and truthfully, you'd be foolish to stop her trying."

"If she dies, I'm going to blame it on you. I will come and make you eat your idiotic, wise words, and then I might just make you choke on your own glitter. Understood, warlock?"

"When I'm right, you're going to eat that threat, and then one of your own seraph blades. Simon can choose which one. Clear, Nephilim?"

Jace chuckled. "Crystal, Magnus. The Seelie Queen sent us a message. I thought you might be able to decode it."

"We'll be over in half an hour." Magnus ended the call, and handed the phone to me.

"Catarina means a lot you, doesn't she?" I asked gently, trying to express I was not jealous, just curious.

"I've known her for a long time. She's been one of the constants in my life." Immeasurable sadness crossed his face. "She was always so good; she works in hospitals usually, giving a little of her magic to each patient. I hate to think that Jonathan could be hurting her."

"You said that warlocks have a special way of speaking, _logos. _Can't you talk to her now?"

"No. She's actively blocking me." This seemed to hurt him more than anything else.

"Why would she do that?"

"I don't know," Magnus said shortly. "Get dressed. We need to leave soon."

I frowned, but didn't probe any further. I remember vividly how I'd been when Sebastian had had Jace, and so I was not going to indulge in hypocrisy. "Magnus?"

"Yes?" A muffled voice said. He was in the middle of putting on a shirt.

"You know I love you, right?"

His face emerged, and he curled an arm round my waist, brushing his lips over my hair. "I trust that you love me. _I know _that I adore you, with every breath I take."

Bzzz... Bzzzz... Bzzzz...

"You should answer that," he said lightly, stepping away from me.

"Are you sure you're not just going to take it off me again?"

"Only if I can find a way of making you jump out of your skin again." He winked and left the room.

"Hello?" "Alexander. Are you at the Institute?" My mother's voice came from the phone

"No. I'm with Magnus. Where are you?"

"I thought you two- Never mind. I'm in Switzerland right now. I just came from Alicante. Tell Jace Clary is in Idris. Sebastian is there too."

"You saw them?"

"I saw Verity Goldwater and Lincoln Nightwine."

"Which is what Sebastian wanted you to see." Clary had obviously created a disguise rune.

"Exactly. But you also need to tell him that he can't come after her."

"This is Jace we're talking about, Mom." The second Jace knew where she was; I had no doubt he would go racing off to Idris to save her. Love could be so blind, a lesson I'd learnt well from those two. They put themselves and others around them in the worst kind of danger to save each other. Which was both admirable and awful at the same time. Shadowhunters were meant to act in a way that was best for the majority, yet they acted in an utterly selfish way.

"Make him see sense, Alec. We can finish Jonathan and his plans if we act carefully. If he rushes into this we may never have another chance."

"I'll try. Do you have any idea what he's planning?"

"He wants to replace Jia. With someone called Highgate, obviously one of his followers."

"Can't you warn her?"

"She may not listen. From what I've heard they're close friends."

"We're their cousins."

"That they see once or twice a decade. Highgate's been by her side for years."

I sighed. Why did no one trust us, the Lightwoods? Had we not proved ourselves time and time again?" We'll work something out, Mom. Keep an eye on Jia and Highgate."

"I will. Look after Jace and Isabelle, Alexander. I'm trusting you to protect them."

"I promise I will. I always have. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, son."

**12345678901234567890-12345678901234567890123456789 01345678923456789**

"You know, you don't have to help us..." I said awkwardly as the Institute reared up into our view.

"On the contrary, I think I do." He placed a finger on my lips before I could say anything else. "If Sebastian wins, it's not just going to affect Shadowhunters."

I sighed, and pushed his hand away. "I don't want to take advantage of you again. You're not here to supply us with magic."

"As much as I appreciate the thought, darling, I don't think I'm the type to just let people use me. I can take care of myself."

"Then what was all that about being our 'pet warlock' before... what happened." I opened the door of the Institute, holding it to let him through first.

"Melodramatics, I guess. And the fact you're not just 'people'."

I rolled my eyes at him, and we got on the waiting elevator up to the main body of the Institute.

Jace was waiting for us at the top.

"Where's Isabelle?"

"Not standing here."

"I can see that," I snapped. "Stop playing games Jace. Where is she?"

"In her room." He said with a shrug. "You know, where you usually find a person."

"I thought we were going to discuss the message from the Seelie Queen."

"We are." He stood up straight and started towards the library.

I closed my eyes briefly to calm myself. Clearly the apology earlier had led Jace into one of his 'I'm going to try my best to get you to hit me' moods. "Why can't he just give a straight answer?" I muttered under my breath.

Magnus heard and laughed. "And you've known him for seven years, yet you still can't stand him."

Shaking my head, I headed to Isabelle's room, to the root of the problem, rather than getting more and more irate by talking to Jace. I rapped the door, pausing to listen.

"If your name is Jace Herondale, go dress yourself in razor-wire, then set yourself on fire. Once you've finished with that, I'll find a shark to tear half of you off. I'll then leave you to bleed to death while rats gnaw at your flesh and then when you're dead you can burn in hell for the rest of eternity. Sound good?"

"It's Alec."

The door swung open, a red-eyed Isabelle sat in her bed. She held her whip, one end of it wrapped around the door handle.

"What did Jace say?"

She half-smiled before it faded and her expression darkened. "How did you know?"

"Alec felt like doing all of above to Jace?" Magnus said helpfully.

"Ha. Do you know what he said to me?" She didn't wait for a reply. "He told me I should've seen Sebastian killing Max."

I flinched. Every time I heard my little brother's name said aloud, I felt anguish and a terrifying rage at the same time. "He can be a real bastard sometimes Iz, but you know he didn't mean it."

"I know." My sister's voice was firm. "He only said it because I reminded him he'd lost Clary." Her eyes betrayed the tears that had fallen though. He'd really hurt her with his words. But she had really hurt him as well. Jace just had a different way of showing it.

"Dear goodness, is Jace going to have to say sorry twice in one day? It'll give the poor boy a nervous breakdown."

Izzy hiccuped a laugh. I smiled gratefully at Magnus; he always seemed to know the right thing to say. "Come on Iz. Let's go work out some faery nonsense."

We joined Jace in the library, who immediately stood from the chair he was slouched in. "Izzy," he rushed. "I... Max.. It wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have said that."

Izzy smirked. "Let's hope you're not right, Magnus."

Jace shot us a puzzled look, but held up a slip of paper, waving it half-heartedly like a flag. "We'll start with the dimensions, since we seem to know a little more about them. _Shadow dimensions form within their counterparts. _Does that mean anything to you?" He addressed Magnus, whose brow furrowed in though. He was speaking to the wrong person.

"I- I can't be sure, but I think- maybe- that it could be linked to what the book I read about dark magic and Id-t. "

Everyone turned to face me. "You do realize Dark Magic is not really an option?" Jace ventured. "Unless Magnus has become tired of living?"

"It talked of normal dimensions. Not shadow ones. A shadow, by definition, is exactly the same as the object it silhouettes. The same size, the same shape. We might not need dark magic to enter a shadow dimension."

"Except a shadow is nothingness. No substance. It's only an projection of the real object," Jace argued.

"But we're considering dimensions here. It could be literally what Alec said," Magnus murmured thoughtfully. "Same shape, same size. A parallel."

"How are we going to test it?" Isabelle put in, but there was excitement in her voice. "Do you think you could open it?"

"Not a chance. The only warlock I've ever seen attempt anything close to that was both 2,000 years old and insane. I can't do it." Magnus' face was resolute.

"I thought you were powerful?" Jace said, aiming for a reaction.

"I am, Heronadale-"

"_Lightwood-"_

_"_Do I look like I care? Anyway, I'm powerful, but nowhere near enough. I would collapse when it was about a quarter open. Which may just then act like a black hole, killing every living thing in the known universe."

"What if we were to help you?" I asked carefully.

"Can you do magic?" Magnus inquired.

"No, I meant more like when I helped you at Valentine's ship. Or after Amatis stabbed you."

Jace and Izzy gazed at us in complete incomprehension, while Magnus stared at me, deliberating.

"It's a possibility," he said slowly. "But once I've began opening it, I can't stop. If it's too much, I could kill one of you. All of you. And still create aforementioned black hole."

"It's worth the risk now. Sebastian will destroy life as we know it anyway. We have to act."

His mouth settled into an unhappy, uneasy line. "What about the rest of the letter?"

_"Heaven's fire is only removed in perfect equilibrium_," Isabelle spoke, mimicking the Seelie Queen's glacial tones.

"Oh, that part's easy enough to understand." Magnus said cheerfully. "We need Hell's Fire to balance it."

"Where _exactly_ do we get Hell's Fire from?"

"From Lucifer, of course."

**Lots of love for each person who reviews, and I will give you a special mention in Chapter 17 and reply to you too.**

**BlackHeartedTigress. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo xoxoxoxoxo**

**Special mentions for everyone who reviewed 16 Help! - thank you. I really mean it; you people are the guys who inspire me to write:**

**twishadowhunter: **I'm glad you think so. Good luck with your writing! ;)

**esparzaarlas:** I'm glad you like it.

**Pinkylock**: Thanks, and remember no-ones perfect! Sometimes I do miss things, and if you notice any glaring mistakes don't be afraid to let me know; I want to make this fic as good as possible!

**Mistiously**: Thank you- I'm definitely continuing!

**the-idiot-soldier-potterhead:** It makes me so happy to hear that; I really want my writing to be enjoyable to read!

**PerfectionIsFlawed** (true enough): Yeah, I guess its something that happens to all writers at some stage... Hopefully you'll like what's to come... ( To self\: the pressure you're now under is self-inflicted, you idiot.)

**Juti**: I'm happy you want to me to continue. Power to the guests too, I guess!

**Serenity Shadowstar** (your pen name is so beautiful): Well, here's the chapter, and with any luck there'll be another after this!

**guest** (9/16/13): Thank you!

**MARIAALEXANDER**: I know! A story can never have enough Malec, right? There's a little in this chapter, but I may dedicate another full chapter to them in the future (or maybe a whole fic when I'm eventually finished this!) Yay for Non-Isabelle-made-cookies!

**Guest** (Capital G guest) (9/16/13): here's the update for you!

**Jump4Life**: I always think we need smart  
and intuitive female characters; they're role models to us readers. We don't want some helpless damsel in distress.

How could anyone not love Jace? Seriously,what girl could resist the witty-arrogant-on-the-outside-vulnerable-in-the-in side boy that is Jace?

Me too. Although I love Clace, they're firmly in second place when it comes to my fav. couple from TMI!

**flamingpen18**: Yay, a new person. Tell me what you think of the update you couldn't wait for!

**Bre Renee**: I'm not stopping! I'm just asking for support!

I love exploring the different character's POV. I also think it helps create suspense; you don't know what's happening to the others.

**acrid-april**: Thank you especially for your review. Not only did you take the time to leave me one, you also told me what you like, which is so helpful to me as a writer.

Sometimes it is hard to find a good fanfic (I'm so glad you include mine in that section), but I could recommend some fantastic others- forever parabatai is one I read recently that I loved.

Ha- I don't think even I get the characters right 100% of the time; although that could be due to the fact that each person who reads TMI has a slightly different perception of that character.

Would you believe I make this up as I go along? There is a very sketchy plan, but it changes constantly, and when I think of a new idea I like, it gets added to the plot. Sometimes I'm worried I'll miss something I mention in an earlier chapter and forget about!

Thank you again, and I truly hope I had continue to hold your interest in my story!


End file.
